Legend of Zelda: An Addition of Time
by Gewbur2010
Summary: A simple human passes into the world of the magical Hyrule. What help can he lend when things seem to have changed a bit with him just being there?
1. So Much For Camping

**I'll be going over this and editing it a little. Nothing huge, just minor details to hopefully spruce this up a little.**

For the record I don't own the Legend of Zelda or anything related to the production franchise or whatever you want to call it. I do however own myself and a few characters that I more than likely will throw in. With that said, let's start this story off and hope it goes well.

By the way, this isn't one of those Gary Stue/ Mary Sue overpowered character fics. Wouldn't be as much fun to make if the character knew everything.

sc = scene change

* * *

"Today's a great day to go camping." I said to no one in particular as I gathered an old sleeping bag, a few extra clothes, a small tent, a few packets of food, and a flashlight. I then grabbed a nearby backpack and stuffed my supplies in it and struggled to zip it up. Next I went about to look for a machete so I could easily make my way through the woods.

After a moment of rummaging around, I found one with a black forearm-length blade with a silver edge and a makeshift nylon sheath, which I attached to the left side of my brown leather belt. I slipped on a dark green T-shirt, beige cargo pants, my belt, and light brown hiking boots. I then grabbed and put on a light, forest camo hooded jacket in case it got a bit nippy during the night.

Figuring I only needed one last thing I headed over to my dresser and fished out the all important compass from my 'useful junk drawer.' I stared at it for a second, wondering if I really needed it or not since I wasn't planning on going very far into my back woods. 'Better to have something and not need it than to need it and not have it.' I thought to myself as I slipped it into my back pocket.

Going over my small stash of gear, I made sure I had what I thought was enough for a one to two night sleep. I headed out but stopped as I was just about to shut the door. 'I should take something to occupy myself. Maybe I should take my bow to practice with.' I looked over at a target stand that had a few arrow shafts protruding through the entire board. "Sure why not? I could use the practice." I concluded as I dropped my bag and went back inside to get my bow and a few arrows.

I took my bow off of the wall, put a few arrows into the attachable quiver, and stashed both the bow and the quiver into a single strap carrying case along with fifteen more arrows. As I left the room I grabbed a leather forearm guard and put it on my left arm, and grabbed a leather glove with all but the first two fingers cut off and put it on my right hand. On my way out I wrote a note saying that I'd be camping in the woods, so as not to worry my family if they got home from their vacation before I came back.

I locked my house up, grabbed my gear by the door, and headed to the ditch that separated my yard from the tree line of the woods. I tossed my bag and my bow case over the ditch and jumped across beside them. I brushed them off as I picked them back up and began my search for a good camping spot. After about fifteen minutes of walking, I found a wide clearing that seemed like an almost perfect camp site. I unpacked all my gear leaving my clothes in the bag and began setting up my tent.

Once I was done setting up camp I grabbed my bow case and put it on as I went off to explore the area a bit. I used my machete to mark every few trees so I knew where I came from in hopes of not getting lost. Around ten minutes of hiking later I noticed an odd marking on a tree up ahead.

"What in the world made this?" I asked as I moved up closer to examine the engraved triangle on the large oak's trunk. I started laughing as I remembered what it was. " It's the triforce my older brother etched when we came hiking back here when I was eight. Man it's really been ten years?" I asked myself as I recalled the memories. "I'm surprised it's still here plus I don't remember it being out this far."

I looked at it closer and noticed that a yellowish moss grew on the tree, but it seemed a little more dense around the outer triangles and barely any on the middle. Not really caring about the odd colored moss, I headed off back to camp while whistling Zelda's Lullaby as I left the clearing, not noticing that the moss had a dim glow to it. All of a sudden a very strong gust of wind hit me when I was balancing on the log bridge that led to the clearing of the old oak. Needless to say, I lost my balance and fell into the deep ditch. I flailed my arms around in hopes of catching myself but ended up falling head first and hit my head on the rocks below. Before I knew it, darkness took over my vision and I was out cold.

~ sc ~

Pain, something I don't get along with too well. Unfortunately for me it was having a small party in my head and sending invitations throughout my body. I slowly opened my eyes to dark woods. "Not good." I whispered as I slowly ran my hand through my dark brown hair to see if I was bleeding, "It's dark, my head hurts and I'm stuck in a deep ditch... No biggy." I finished sarcastically as I slowly got up. I looked up the sides of the ditch in hopes of finding a way out. Luckily there was a sturdy branch poking over the top around five feet above me. I took the bow case off my back and used the strap to grab it and climbed up using the case. "It's good to be tall." I laughed.

"Alrighty, which way to go?" I asked as I reached in my back pocket and pulled out my compass. "Da da da daaaaaaaaa." I chuckled as I held it above my head for no good reason. My heart sank as I looked at it. "Fffffffffidlesticks! It's too dark to read it." I groaned. "Oh great, I even forgot to get my flashlight out of my bag." I let out a heavy sigh and decided to try to follow the trees that I marked by feeling for a cut along them. I started to whistle more Zelda songs to keep myself calm as I slowly followed the path that had cuts on trees.

"Aaaaaaaaaah!" I froze as I heard a high pitched scream. Not just because it scared me half to death, but also to try and find out where it came from while I dug my bow out. "Help me!" it screamed as I ran in its direction while dodging the silhouettes of the trees. I slowed to a sneak as I heard growling and the crunching of leaves a few yards ahead. I grabbed an arrow and notched it while cursing that I had forgotten my quick release mechanism. It hurts a little to draw back the strings of bows without it.

'Ok this is a really bad idea but someone's in trouble.' I thought as I reached the edge of a clearing and saw a rather large animal circling a tree. My eyes widened as I saw the size of it staring up into the branches. 'That's one freakin huge wolf!' I thought as I pulled the string back. 'Wait a minute, wolves don't live in my woods let alone get that big.' my thoughts stopped when my elbow caused a twig to snap off of a tree beside me.

A wave of panic flooded through me as the large wolf paused and sniffed the air. I relaxed a bit as it started circling the tree again, apparently more interested in whoever was up there. I followed the animal's movements with the arrow aimed at its heart for an easy kill. I released the string and the arrow soared through the air and impaled the beast through the back and into its heart, causing it to collapse. To my shock and horror it got back up, howled, and charged toward me!

It's as if time slowed down as I threw down my bow and drew my machete. I had just enough time to put the blade in front of me before I was tackled to the ground. By some miracle the blade had impaled the large wolf right beside where my arrow's point was sticking out through its chest. I took a moment to register what had happened, but that's a bit hard to do when a dead animal the size of a young bear is on top of you.

"Are you alright?" I called up to the person in the tree after I had managed to get from under the over sized wolf.

"Yes and thank you. That wolfos was following me for days But you should get out of here, another one is bound to come by soon." A high pitched voice answered back that sounded like a little girl.

'Wolfos? Slip of the tongue?' I thought as I pulled my arrow and machete from the body and wiped them off on its fur. I put my arrow and machete away as I went to retrieve my bow and put it back in the case. "Do yo-" I was cut off by a chorus of loud howls in the night.

"You need to get out of here, now!" she practically screamed. "I'll be fine, they won't notice me up here."

I looked up to try and see her but I only saw a faint orange glow through the foliage. A noise made me whip around and look at were the wolf had been only to see that it was gone! I pulled out my machete and backed up to the tree while watching the wood line carefully for any movement.

"Go!" she yelled causing me to jump. "Before they make it here."

"Alright be careful!" I called as I ran in the opposite direction of the howls. I heard a 'you too' but I was more focused on not running into any trees, it was still dark after all. After a while of running I jumped out of some bushes and out onto what looked like a dirt trail. A horse neighed and reared back causing me to stumble back and fall onto the ground.

"You there!" the rider yelled rather angrily. "He may catch us because of you!"

"Well excuse me for just getting away from a pack of beasts that could easily tear me apart and make me a midnight snack!" I snapped rudely, getting up and rubbing my sore tail bone. "Sorry, I've had a rough night." I sighed as I walked to the side of the white horse.

The lady glanced down the trail that she had come from and looked at me, she seemed really on edge for some reason. She looked down in front of her at a small child and then back to me.

"Are you trustworthy?" She asked me with a somewhat monotone.

"You could say that" I said slightly panting from my run earlier. She did another quick glance back and looked at the child in front of her.

"Please, take her and keep her hidden from a large dark evil man with red hair." The lady said as she gently picked the little girl up and handed her to me. "You must keep her safe at all costs." she stated as she stared at me with her unusual red eyes. One thing's for sure, she wasn't kidding.

'Wow she's a lot lighter than I thought she'd be.' I thought when the white-haired lady gave me the little girl. She looked like she was around the age of ten. "I'll do what I can, but is she alright?" I asked as I carried her over to the bushes.

"Yes, she's just sleeping. I'll ride off to make it look like I still have her. Young man please, for the love of Hyrule, keep her highness safe." With that she rode off into the dark.

"Wait! What am I suppose to do after..." I trailed off as the horse galloped down the left path at a fork in the trail. "Well crap." I looked down at the little girl in my arms and noticed that she had on some quite extravagant clothing. Some gold jewelry, a white and light purple silk dress, and a matching headdress. 'Dressed like royalty.' I chuckled.

I took my jacket off and put it around her to help conceal her from any others that may come along the path. Not soon after I had put the jacket on her, I heard what sounded like a large horse coming down the path. I picked the little girl back up and ran into the woods hoping that I wasn't seen or heard. At that time the little girl started to wake up so I kneeled down to stand her up.

She took one look at me and let out a loud scream startling me. I quickly put my hand over her mouth and held a finger to my lips in order to shush her. Unfortunately the large horse stopped about were we where. 'Oh crap.' I thought as the girl squirmed out of my grip.

"Hahaha I've got you now child. Come out to save us both trouble." A tall man bellowed from a top the large black horse. I looked at the girl who seemed to be shaking in fear. I lightly grabbed her chin and made her look at me. I mouthed for her to stay here and keep quiet. She slowly nodded showing that she understood.

"Someone heard that?" I asked nervously as I walked out from the cover of the brush. "Man that's embarrassing, did I startle you?" The man raised an eyebrow at me.

"Where are you hiding her?" he demanded. "Or are you suggesting that that scream was you."

I froze as I saw his face. 'He looks just like Ganondorf. That's an awesome costume. Wow his nose was that big?' I thought as I looked him over and held back a chuckle. 'Huge horse too, about as big as one of those Clydesdales except with less hair.'

"Well?" he asked impatiently snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah, I uh, heh saw a big spider." I replied scratching the back of my head. It's funny how I can stay calm when I'm in the middle of burning buildings fighting fires, but this guy was making me uneasy just by looking at me. 'Ok calm down. It's not like he's real, he just looks like he is. But there's just something off about this guy.'

He pulled up beside me and looked down at me as if studying me. "Hmm, you may not be a full one of us but it's customary for my subjects to bow down before they speak to me. Your mother must have been one that was exiled or you may have somehow survived the desert." he said after he sat upright again. "Nevertheless, have you seen a woman and a little girl pass by here?" he asked sternly.

"Uh... yeah, a white-haired woman almost ran me over on a horse but she continued down the path." I said as I pointed the way she went. "And it looked like she had a little girl but it was hard to tell because of the darkness."

"Hahahaha loyal even with a traitorous mother, we will meet again." he laughed as he went after the white horse.

"Phew... I was actually starting to get scared for a moment. What the heck was he even talking about?" I thought aloud as I walked back over to the little girl. "Are you alright? Was he your crazy father chasing your grandmother for you or something?" I joked as I squatted down to her height. All of a sudden she looked like she wanted to slap me.

"That man is not my father!" she seethed. Needless to say I felt horrible that I asked that question. She also looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"Aw I'm sorry don't cry! I can't stand it when people cry, it makes me feel bad." I said trying to keep her calm. "I'll take you somewhere safe so he won't find you. Besides, that lady you where with asked me to keep you safe."

"Impa did? Where is she?" she asked as she calmed down a little.

'Impa... why does that sound so familiar?' "She was the lady that almost trampled me with her horse." I chuckled, " She asked me to keep you safe from a large, dark evil man with red hair which I'm guessing was that guy that just rode off. I'm Josh by the way." I said with a grin, holding out my hand. She grabbed it and I helped her up since she had sat down during my little chat with the Ganondorf wannabe.

"And my name's Zelda. It's nice to meet you, and thank you for keeping me safe." She said with a smile.

'Okay, I'm either at some convention with some seriously crazed fans of the legend of Zelda, or I'm in Hyrule some how right now, oooor I'm still in the ditch having one heck of a dream.' I thought to myself. 'But considering that my head still hurts, my butt still hurts, and being tackled by that huge wolf felt so real... I must've come across some sort of crazy play since that's the only one that could really happen.'

"Are you alright?" I heard Zelda ask. Apparently I was lost in thought and ignored whatever she just said.

"Yeah, sorry did you say something? I was thinking." I replied looking down at her and giving my full attention this time. That is until my gaze wandered to the trail when I noticed something sparkle.

"So where am I?" she asked looking around. "Am I in the lost woods? The last thing I remember is being in Hyrule field with Impa after I had thrown the Ocarina of Time at Link and hit him in the head." she giggled a little at the end.

'Yep sounds like a play to me except I'm about to screw it up. Oh well they can yell at me all they want, I need to know where I am.' "Yeah but if we go the way you were coming from we might find a place to get directions." I said, deciding to humor the girl and play along. 'At least she seems happy now, but she's one heck of an actor for her age. I really thought she was serious earlier.' We started walking down the path for a good ways until...

"I'm sorry to trouble you but I need to rest, these shoes are killing me." Zelda piped up after about fifteen minutes of walking. Sure she may have walked a lot more at her castle but that was on smooth floors, not rough terrain.

"Honestly I'm surprised you didn't ask earlier. Walking in high-heels in the woods probably isn't the most comfortable thing to do." I chuckled as I watched her sit on a large rock. "In fact It'd probably be better for me to carry you so you don't twist your ankle." I said as I sat down next to her and leaned against the tree behind us. 'How far am I from camp? Heck how far am I from home?' I thought as I closed my eyes.

I decided to hum Zelda's Lullaby to help the time go by as we sat there. After a few minutes I felt Zelda slump against my shoulder asleep. I adjusted myself so we'd both be a little more comfortable and decided to take a little nap. It'd be easier to travel when it was brighter anyway.

~ sc ~

I woke up to a buzzing noise next to my ear. I looked over and saw an orange light land on my right shoulder. I looked up at the sky and noticed that the sun was rising, showing that it was dawn. 'What's a firefly doing out in the morning?' I thought groggily, 'and aren't they suppose to be yellow? Must be the sun messing with my eyes.'

"Thanks again for helping me back there." a cheery voice said.

"No problem, you could say it was a different experience for me." I said sleepily while trying to shoo the bug away thinking Zelda was talking to me. The fist-sized orb floated away from my hand and out of my sight.

"It looked like you knew what you were doing to me. I'm just glad those wolfos didn't catch up to you, I'd hate for someone to get eaten because of little ol' me." she sounded a little disheartened now.

"Don't worry I know what I'm doing... sorta." I replied as the sleepiness started to wear off. "Wait a minute, there weren't any wolves near you. Sure I was chased by some but none that I could see." I heard a giggle and looked around to see who did it, but all I saw was the bug flying in and out of my sight and Zelda walking towards me.

"Who's your friend Josh?" Zelda asked referring to the light that was hiding behind my head.

"Friend?" I asked looking around not seeing anyone.

"Hi!" the light exclaimed as it flew right in front of my face. I let out a yelp and fell onto my back with my feet sticking up over the rock. "I'm Angi!" she giggled as she landed on my chest.

* * *

There's probably a few things that i overlooked but I think I did pretty well for a first post. Let me know how you like and/or dislike it in a review after you read it.

If there are any likenesses to other stories it's purely by chance. I mean there are thousands of other fics so some things are bound to be somewhat similar. However, i do believe that this one is unique.


	2. The Road to a Haven

Bear with me, I gotta add in a few details here and there for this thing to make as much sense as possible. It may seem a bit slow but then again, it is the beginning and I'm relatively new at this so... yeah. Again, I don't own anything of the Zelda franchise or anything famous that I might make a reference to. That being said, let's get this thing started!

* * *

I just lay there staring at the orange orb on my chest. I looked over at Zelda who was giggling at me for falling on to the ground. Correction, falling onto my bow that I had forgotten to take off before my nap. So that adds up to a sore butt, a minor headache, and now a sore back... lovely.

"How'd you do that?" I asked Zelda as I rolled over to sit down and face her. She just gave a 'what are you talking about' look. I looked at the floating orb then back to her. "Did you hear this bug talk?" I asked as I pointed at it.

"I'm not a bug silly." it said as it floated in front of my face again. I squinted because of the light but could see the shape of a small woman with wings that could fit in my hand. "Like I said my name's Angi, I'm a fairy. Nice to meet you!" she said as she seemed to glow a bit brighter.

"Uh, hi... I'm Josh." I said as I put out a finger to her. I felt two little hands grab it and you could say we shook. That still didn't help how lost I felt. 'Either I've completely lost it or I'm actually here in the real Hyrule. Well, not the REAL Hyrule but I must be, how else can I be talking to a fairy? Should I be freaking out because I'm here or freaking out because I'm actually HERE? Hell I don't even know what to think.' I thought with a blank expression. I was brought out of my thoughts by something poking my nose.

"Did you hear me?" Angi asked. "I asked if you and your daughter were lost." earning herself a giggle from Zelda and a laugh from me. "What?"

'Zelda said something about throwing an ocarina at Link so that means... Link's already at the Master Sword. Does that mean I to have to wait seven years to get back home?' I thought growing worried. 'First things first, I need to get Zelda away from here.' "I'm taking her to Lon Lon Ranch so we can head off to a place where Ganondorf won't find her." I said after thinking for a minute.

"But that still doesn't explain who she is and how you two got here. I've never seen either of you in Kokiri Forest or the Lost Woods. Well at least not her since you helped me earlier." Angi said putting her hands on her hips and floating up to my face.

'Curious little thing aren't you?' I thought. "I uh, found her asleep along this trail a little while ago." I said trying to avoid saying who she was for fear some lurking evil would somehow hear. I had that kind of luck sometimes.

"What?" she exclaimed as she flew over to the princess who wore my jacket and had the hood up. It looked more like a Camouflage mini dress with really long sleeves and a hood on her though. "He found you here and you didn't turn into a Skull Kid? How long have you been out here?"

"I'm not sure really. A few hours maybe?" Zelda stated as she tried to think of how long it's been. "I was riding with my caretaker when I went to sleep and then I woke up in his arms." she said pointing to me. "Impa entrusted him with my safety and he hid me from Ganondorf so I trust him."

I was more or less ignoring what they were saying as I remembered that I still had my compass in my back pocket. I pulled it out and looked at the back of it, noticing a tiny bulge near the edge. I flipped it over and held it flat only to find that the needle had wedged itself into the back brass covering. "Crap!" I yelled as I put the useless instrument back into my pocket.

I must've startled the girls with my sudden outburst since the were staring at me. "Sorry, my compass is broken. We'll just have to hope for the best." I said with what I hoped to be an encouraging smile. My smile dropped however once I heard a loud howl. "Time to go!" I exclaimed as I ran to Zelda, scooped her up, and ran as fast as I could down the trail leading to Hyrule Field. Pretty soon I saw a bridge up ahead that lead to Hyrule Field, or at least that's where I hoped it lead. The sign beside it just had squiggles from what I could tell.

Right before I reached the bridge I heard a spitting noise. Soon after, I got hit in the back of the head by something small and saw a bright flash. I fell forward but put my shoulder down first and rolled so I didn't fall on my face or Zelda. I got back up, set her down, and turned only to be greeted by something hitting me in the chest and another bright flash. My vision cleared a few seconds later and I saw what looked like a large wooden ball with two feet and a bush for hair. It looked at me with glowing red eyes and spit another seed at me out of it's tube-like mouth.

I put my left arm over my eyes to block the light and drew my machete but once I looked it wasn't there anymore. I looked around but it had hidden it's body under the ground, blending in with its surroundings so I couldn't see it. I heard another spitting noise and got hit by another seed, going blind for a second again.

"Stop spitting flashy seeds at my you stupid thing! They hurt!" I yelled into the woods while rubbing my chest.

"It's a Deku Scrub. They hide in the bushes and spit Deku nuts at their enemies." Angi informed. "You need to stun it if you want to get up close to it." It popped its head out of the brush and stared at me, as if telling me to get out of the forest.

"You've won this round shrubby, but I'll be back." I said as I narrowed my eyes at it. It narrowed it's eyes at me as well then walked off into the forest. I put my machete away and all three of us went on our merry way to Lon Lon Ranch. Just as we reached the edge of the woods a large purple flower sprouted up beside me and closed around Angi. Zelda and I jumped back in shock. Before I could act the bulb of the plant started shaking and whipping around violently.

Angi popped out and began ramming the sides of the plant mercilessly, causing it to wilt down. "Don't ever try to eat me again!" she screamed at it as she continued her assault even after the plant had stopped moving. "Stupid Deku Babas." she huffed, crossing her arms as she floated back over to us.

"Remind me not to get on your bad side." I chuckled as I continued on. "Wait aren't forest fairies suppose to stay in the forest?" I asked looking over at Angi. She seemed to think for a moment, then flew over and sat on my shoulder.

"I'm gonna come along with you two to make sure Princess Zelda finds somewhere safe." She stated, making me stumble a bit. "And don't think you can talk me out of it, I've taken it as my job to be your guardian for a while."

"Uh, what makes you think this is Princess Zelda?" I asked a little nervously. "I mean it could just as easily be a Kokiri kid."

"Because I told her." Zelda said simply. "Besides, everyone knows that if a Kokiri child leaves the forest they die."

"Riiiiight... forgot about that." I said dumbly. I looked over to Angi and a thought popped into my head. 'She looks like a flying tangerine from a distance.' I laughed. "Hey Tangi, would you happen to know the direction of Lon Lon Ranch?" I asked with a grin.

"My name's Angi A-N-G-I. Not Tangi, and of course I know where Lon Lon Ranch is." she said sounding a little unsure of herself. "It's um, that way." she more or less asked as she pointed off in a random direction.

"It'd probably be easier to spot it if we were up higher." Zelda said pointing her sleeved-over hand to a hill after we walked through a wooden tunnel and finally reached Hyrule Field. "Wait, I hear something." she whispered suddenly making me go on alert. "It sounds like a large bird flapping it's wings."

I looked around and listened carefully but only heard our footsteps. "Are you sure? I don't hear anything." I said as we passed a large dead tree that seemed to stand out more than the rest around us.

"Yeah I hear it too." Angi said as she flew up in order to look for anything that was big in the sky over the trees behind us. She let out an 'Eep' and dove down into Zelda's hood. "There's a huge owl coming our way." once she finished saying that I could hear the sound of large wings flapping.

'Why?' was all I thought as I saw an owl the size of a child land on a branch of the tree we just passed. 'Of all the things that could've shown up. Why him?'

"Hoot hoooo, if you're wanting to get to Lon Lon Ranch, you need to take the first left you can on this path. Follow it and you should make it there by sun down." He said as he flew off. "Be safe princess."

"Well that was conveniently short, sweet and to the point." I said aloud, then it hit me. "Wait a minute. How the heck did he know who you were?" She shrugged when I looked down at her. "I blame your dress." I said finally, walking down the path and turning left like the owl said.

"That can't be it, sure some of it shows but your magic coat covers up most of it." she said tugging at the bottom as if to prove her point. "Does it change with the terrain?" she asked suddenly, looking up at me with sparkling eyes.

"No it stays like that. That's how it was made." I said slower than usual since I wasn't expecting magic to come up so soon. "I'm not exactly the most talented person when it comes to magic."

"Was it made by the Goddesses, or by the Great Fairy of the forest? It blends in with it perfectly." She asked grabbing Angi's attention. The little fairy flew out of the hood and started circling Zelda, examining the jacket.

"It'd probably be sparkling if either of them did that." I chuckled. "But no, my dad gave it to me a few years back so the label of who made it is probably worn off by now."

"Does he know who made it? I haven't heard of a tailor who's made a jacket of this quality in such a way." She asked seemingly baffled at the idea of a single person making camo clothing like that.

"He's... not of this world." I said after a moment of thought. 'Technically I'm not lying considering that I'm not suppose to be here. Heck the closest thing that comes to a human here is a Gerudo if I remember right. I wonder if that's what everyone is gonna think I am even though I have short brown hair, brown eyes, and I'm not as dark as them. Well that would explain Zelda screaming when she first saw me.' I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard talking.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean..." Zelda started.

"It's alright. He's fine where he is." I chuckled sticking my hand under the hood and ruffled her hair. 'Weird, what happened to her headdress thingy?'

"Well it's a good thing I took my headdress off." she said in fake annoyance. She pulled the hood off so she could straighten her shoulder length golden-blonde hair. "I should have you thrown in the dungeon for that."

"You wouldn't." I said in mock fear.

"I would." she giggled, causing me to chuckle nervously.

"Hey!" Angi said making me groan. "Listen! It's going to get dark soon so we need to hurry because I've heard that skeletons come out at night."

"Shut up Navi." I muttered under my breath on impulse.

"Sorry what'd you say?" Angi asked. "I couldn't quite make it out."

"I said good call Tangi, wouldn't want to deal the walking skeletons." I said with a smile as I picked Zelda up and started jogging the rest of the way.

~ sc ~

We made it to Lon Lon Ranch just as the sun had set. I put Zelda down as we walked through the gates and headed to the corral area in hopes of finding someone we could talk to. Unfortunately I stepped on a cucco causing it to crow loudly. The color drained from my face as I remembered what this meant. A large flock of cucco came seemingly out of nowhere and started charging at me. Not knowing where to go, I started to run around the race track until I saw a door in the back that seemed unlocked. I headed straight for it and pulled on it but it didn't budge.

"Craaap!" I went to grab my machete but there was way too many for me to fight off so I started running again. "Well don't just sit there, do something!" I called to my companions desperately as I passed them sitting at the opening of the horse pin. One of the cuccos had gotten smart and noticed that I was just running in circles and went the other way. I swear I have never seen a chicken-like animal so angry, it even had red eyes as it jumped up at me planning on turning my face into a peck post. Before it collided with my face, an orange blur knocked it to the side.

"Thanks Tangi!" I panted as I had just completed my third lap. I ran back to the door I had tried earlier but instead of pulling, I pushed this time. I barged in and slammed it once Angi had come in right behind me. I put my back against the door and slid down to catch my breath. The course was bigger than it looked once you ran it. A few seconds later all of the cuccos made contact with the door, causing loud thuds and making the door rattle.

Two minutes later the rattling and squawking stopped. Assuming it was safe, I opened the door only to be tackled to the ground. "Fairy boy you're back!" the little girl that was on me squealed. "It's been a long while since the last time I saw you. Did you go on a cooler adventure than last time?" she asked practically shaking with excitement.

"Uh, hi to you too." I said awkwardly while picking my self up and lightly pushing her off of me. She had a good grip for her age. Heck she looked about the same age as Zelda.

"Oh I'm sorry mister!" she apologized, blushing from embarrassment. "I thought you were a friend of mine. I just saw your green shirt and your fairy."

"It's alright. I was hoping to find someone and ask if I could rent a horse anyway." I said as we walked out of the barn. I closed the door and saw that it was covered in claw and beak marks. I shivered at the thought of the door being locked when I tried to get in. Suddenly there was a small burning sensation on my left eyebrow after the adrenalin had stopped going through me. I wiped it but only made it sting more. I brought my hand back and saw a little bit of blood on it.

"Dang thing got me." I chuckled. Angi and the red headed little girl looked up at me.

"What got you?" the little girl asked.

"That cucco I accidentally stepped on decided to gang up on me with its friends." I said with a shrug as I opened the door to the ranch house and walked in after the red head. I took my bag off and propped it up against a coat rack, then followed the girl into what I presumed was the living room.

"Ah so this is your friend that got cornered by a few cuccos?" a large man asked Zelda. She nodded and looked over at me with a smile. "This young lass has already explained everything to me and I'd be happy to lend ya a horse for a while." He looked at me and smiled widely. At least I think he was, hard to tell since he had a huge moustache.

"Everything?" I asked looking at Zelda. She only nodded her head in response.

"Yep, from when she met you in the woods to now. Oh where are my manners? I'm Talon, the owner of this ranch, and this is my daughter Malon." the large man said, extending his hand.

"Nice to meet ya, I'm Josh." I said grabbing his hand and shaking it. "Sorry to come so late but we couldn't really help it."

"It's no trouble at all." Talon said, waving it off. "Uh, Malon be a dear and prepare the guest room." Malon scurried off to do what she was told with Zelda and Angi in tow. I was about to ask where she was going but Talon explained. "Princess Zelda said that she needed to hide from this Ganondorf fellow so Malon offered some of her clothes. You know to help her not look all princessy and what not."

"Do you know of a place where she can hide? I was thinking of that village at the base of Death Mountain. If I remember right that's where the home of her caretaker is." I said as I took a seat that Talon offered.

"You mean Kakariko Village? Hmm... sounds as good a place as any if this Ganondorf is as bad as her highness describes him." Talon said thoughtfully. "I'll go and get everything set up for you to leave tomorrow." he said as he got up. I was about to thank him but he beat me to talking. "Oh and don't mention it." he said as he went off to the stables.

Having nothing better to do I decided to go and look at the horses. I went outside and headed to the corral where I nearly bumped into the ranch-hand Ingo. Well, he almost bumped into me with his pitchfork but that's beside the point. I looked over my shoulder at him and him at me. We exchanged dirty looks but said nothing as we went to our destinations. 'Jackass' I thought.

I reached the fence and watched as the horses ran happily around their pin. I leaned up against the corral and smiled, just watching had a calming effect on me. I noticed a young horse that stood out from all the rest. Not just because it was young, but because of its white mane and auburn color. "Hey Epona." I whispered. 'Funny how they have this much energy at night.' I was so focused on the horses that I didn't notice the two figures that came towards me.

"HEY!" something screamed into my ear making me fall over. I lay there with my ears ringing and heart pounding like crazy but I kept my eyes shut.

"Is he alright?" another voice asked. "I can hear his heart beating from here."

"Oh he should be fine." the one that screamed in my ear said. "At least I think." I cracked my eye open to see Angi fluttering around me and some blonde kid I didn't recognize. Once the orange fairy was close enough, I stretched out both my arms and caught her in my hands.

"Not another Deku Baba!" she screamed as she struggled to get out. "What's one doing out of the forest anyway?"

"What was that?" I asked looking into my hands. "I can't hear anything since my ears are ringing so much." I turned to the little girl wearing farm clothes. "Wanna see the firefly that I just caught? If you're crazy enough you just might hear her talk to you." I chuckled. The little girl only giggled causing me to raise an eyebrow to her.

Just then I felt a sharp pain on my left hand. I released Angi, shook my hand and looked closely at my finger. I had to squint but I could see them. Tiny teeth marks on my index finger.

"You bit me." I said as if I had just witnessed a puppy jump off of Death Mountain. She floated in front of my face and crossed her arms. "Hey don't you cross your arms at me like that." I said as I pointed my other index finger at her. "That was uncalled for."

"Uncalled for?" she asked as if I had just thrown a stink bomb into a fairy fountain. "You nearly crushed me!" Looking as if to bite my other finger.

"Well you nearly gave me a heart attack and blew my ears out." I shot back, completely forgetting about the blonde, short haired girl with us. She cleared her throat to get our attention but we didn't notice.

"Well maybe I should have just let that crazed cucco play find the worm on your face." Angi said as she flew up to my face and pointed at my nose.

"Maybe I should've let that wolfos play tag with you for a few weeks." I said while squinting a little because of her light.

"No ears!" she yelled.

"Flying fruit!" I shot back

"Cucco Klutz!" she retorted.

"Well you're a... uh, orange small person." I said, not too proud of my comeback.

"That's... what I am." she said slowly.

"I know, I just ran of things to say." I said looking away and crossing my arms. "Ow!" I exclaimed as the kid had just kicked my shin. "Was that necessary little girl?" I asked as I bent down and rubbed where she had just kicked me. She looked annoyed and I gave her the same expression. "What?"

Her face quivered, struggling to keep a straight face. It quickly turned to a smile and then she was stifling giggles which lead to laughter. Angi started laughing too which got me even more confused.

"What?" I asked again, growing even more annoyed.

"You don't recognize me?" the girl asked after she had calmed down. I sat down on the grass, crossed my arms, and looked into her bright blue eyes. A few moments passed until Angi grew annoyed and flew over to my shoulder. "I'll give you a hint. Her name starts with 'Z' and ends with 'elda'." she said loud enough for all of us to hear.

'...Dammit, I feel stupid now.' I thought. "Nope doesn't ring a bell." I said as I got up. "What kind of hint is that anyway?" I asked Angi. "A girl who's name starts with 'Z' and ends with 'elda?' That could be anyone like... Zefrelda for instance." I said as I leaned against the fence looking at the horses again.

"Who's that?" the little girl asked.

"I have no idea, but she was famous none-the-less." I replied looking down at her. 'Amazing what a simple change of clothes and a haircut can do.'

Angi let out a heavy sigh. "I'm going to go on to bed you two. Goodnight Josh, goodnight princess." she said as she flew off to the ranch house.

"Goodnight." Zelda said as she waved to her.

"Night Tangi." I chuckled making Angi blow a raspberry at me. I simply laughed and turned back to the horses. "So Ms. Princess, what brings you out here?" I asked looking down at her.

"Where are we going to go?" she asked looking over at the horses.

"To look for your caretaker. She's bound to be in Kakariko Village right?" I replied looking at the horses, but focused mostly on Epona. "Besides, you'd be safer with her anyway."

"You mean Impa? Yes that's her hometown but I doubt we'd find her there." she said sadly.

"It's worth a try." I said simply. "We can always wait for her if she isn't there." I looked over to her to see that she was taking off a necklace.

"I want you to have this." she said holding it out to me. It was a golden hawk under the triforce on a thin golden chain. "It's the royal family crest and you've more or less become my bodyguard. It's magical, so it will help keep you safe."

I took it and held it in front of my face so I could see it better. I couldn't place it but it had this weird feeling about it, like something you know is there but you can't explain. "Protect me so I can protect you huh?" I put it on and looked down at her. "Thanks Zelda." I said with a smile as I ruffled her hair. "You should go to sleep. It's past your bedtime." I chuckled.

"You need to sleep too." she said as she swatted my hand away.

"I'm gonna stay out here for a few more minutes. So go on, shoo. Go to bed." I said, shooing her away with my hands. She didn't budge though. I sighed and started whistling her lullaby. After a minute her eyes started to droop. She let out a yawn and looked at me as if wanting to ask something but seemed too tired to bother. I picked her up and carried her over to the house and put her to bed.

"How the hell is all of this happening?" I asked myself as I crawled into the bed next to Zelda's after putting my machete down beside me. "How did I get into the Legend of Zelda the Ocarina of Time? Why did it have to be the one I haven't played in what, three years? Aaahh too many questions that will probably never be answered." I groaned as sleep started to get a good grip on me. 'I can't believe I have to wait seven years to even have a remote chance of going home when Zelda sends Link back. Let alone survive running from an evil power crazed wizard and keeping a princess safe from said wizard.' I drifted off to sleep with that last thought.

* * *

The group now has a destination planned out and will leave for safety soon. They've made it this far without any major problems, will their luck hold out? Hehehe, we'll see. Next chapter we'll have a bit more action and meet someone all Zelda fans should know.

Let me know what you think about this in a review.


	3. An Unfair Fight

Well I'm happy with all the hits that I've gotten but a little disappointed about the lack of reviews. Then again not much has happened... at all... BUT it's gonna start speeding up on this chapter and get a little actiony as well. And the chapter starts... now.

sc = scene change, vc = view change

* * *

The morning silence was broken by a cucco's crow. Said cucco was sitting on the very window sill that I just happen to be sleeping by. I cracked my eyes open and stared at the bird angrily. I grabbed my pillow and threw it, scoring a direct hit on the bird and knocked it off of its perch. Once my feathered alarm clock was taken care of, I decided to get back to sleep only to have something continuously wiz by my ears.

It was one of those mornings were you don't want to get up and just stare out the window at the beauty. The sun just peaking over the horizon, bathing everything in a warm orange glow. The dew was sparkling and the horses were frolicking in the pasture. Unfortunately, my little fairy friend wasn't going to let me do that. I swatted at the orange orb to try and shoo it away in hopes of getting more sleep.

"Go away sunshine." I groaned sleepily, still trying to get rid of the flying light. "You're beautiful but it's too early in the morning for you to be so bright." she paused in the air for a second and I used that to pin her to the bed with my hand.

"Hey! Wake up!" she yelled. I looked over and saw Angi struggling to get out from under my hand. I let her go and turned away to block out the light she always emitted. "Come on get up." she said softly. "Everyone else is already wide awake." I simply pulled the sheet over my head at her comment. "Look out! The cucco you hit is back for revenge and it brought friends!" she suddenly screamed.

I bolted upright, tossed the sheets to the side, and ran into the closed door with a loud thud. I stumbled back, heard a few squawks, swung the door open and dashed out of the room leaving a fairy to giggle her heart out. I ran down the hallway when the floor suddenly turned to stairs. I tumbled down and crashed into the wall where the stairs suddenly changed direction. "Ow." I let out with a grunt.

Everyone who was in the room reacted differently at my dramatic entrance. Ingo was laughing like crazy, using the shovel he was holding for support from falling. Talon was yelling at Ingo for laughing at me. Malon was covering her mouth in shock and Zelda looked on with worried wide eyes. I just lay there with my legs propped up against the wall and stared up at the ceiling trying to register what just happened. I slowly got up and slightly limped down the last three steps that led away from the wall that stopped me. I made my way to the table in the middle of the room and plopped down in a chair.

"You alright son?" Talon asked, grabbing a pitchfork.

"I've been better but I'll be fine." I said rubbing my neck. 'Man this sucks, I just got over being sore from yesterday.' I complained mentally. Talon nodded and went outside to start working.

"Here, drink this" Malon said holding a bottle up to me. "It'll make you feel better."

"Thanks." I said with a smile. I grabbed the bottle, pulled the cork out, put the bottle to my lips but stopped when I noticed an odd scent. 'This doesn't smell like milk.' I thought scrunching my nose up and pulling the bottle away.

"You go ahead and drink that." Ingo snickered as he headed out the door. "I'd love to see what your horse looks like."

Confused, I looked at the lable but only saw squiggles, similar to the ones on the sign back in the forest. I turned it to the back and saw a little diagram. A horse with a bo tie, a plus sign, a horse with long hair, an equal sign, and a smaller horse with a rattle. It clicked in my head at what the white liquid was and cringed. I put the bottle back on the table, corked it, pushed it aside and put my head down.

"Oops wrong bottle, sorry." Malon laughed sheepishly, picking it up. "I'll go get you a different one." she said, running off to the kitchen.

"I'll never look at milk the same way again." I whispered to myself with a shudder, my head still resting on the table.

"What was it?" Zelda asked sitting down beside me. "Why won't you look at milk the same way?"

My eyes shot open. 'How did she- oh right, elven ears. Damn your hearing Zelda.' I thought to myself. 'I hate explaining these things.'

"What's wrong? Are you alright?" she asked with concern.

"Yeah I'm fine." I said, sitting back up. "It was just uh, watered down garlic paste." I lied.

"Here you go, fresh Lon Lon Milk." Malon said when she came back in, holding a bottle up to me. "It's milk this time, I promise." she said with a sheepish smile.

"Thanks." I chuckled, taking it from her. I uncorked it and sniffed it just in case. Smelling milk, I downed the whole glass in one go. "Ah!" I sighed in relief as I wiped my mouth. "Good ol' Lon Lon milk. The best milk around." I exclaimed happily already feeling better. The girls giggled for a bit when all of a sudden Angi quickly flew down from upstairs.

"He's coming!" she exclaimed frantically. "We need to move! Now!"

"Who is?" I asked confused.

"You can't tell? It's Ganondorf you idiot!" She screamed making the little Hylians gasp.

"Well that was uncalled for." I said annoyed. "Wait, What? Crap! Zelda put the coat on and tell Talon we need that horse!" I commanded as I ran up the stairs to get my stuff. I grabbed my machete, put my boots on (who sleeps in hiking boots anyway?) and raced back down to get my bow. By the time I made it out the door, Talon had a horse saddled up at the opening of the corral with Zelda and Angi waiting for me. 'That was fast.'

"Head to Kakariko, we'll stall him as long as we can." Talon instructed as I climbed up the tan horse and sat behind Zelda. She had my jacket on over her borrowed farm clothes with the hood up so she was unrecognizable from a distance. Even if someone got up close it'd be hard to recognize her with short hair anyway. At least that's what we all hoped.

"Thanks for everything Talon and you too Malon." I said with a smile as I lightly heeled the horse's side.

"Think nothing of it young'uns. Now get outta here." Talon said as he and Malon waved good-bye to us.

"I don't suppose you know how to ride a horse do you?" I asked Zelda sheepishly while I strapped my bow and arrows to the saddle.

"You mean you've never been on one?" Zelda asked, apparently a bit surprised by this.

"Well I've been on one but it wouldn't move soo, no I've never technically ridden a horse before." I said grinning. "So it looks like you're driving." I paused looking at the sky. "Wasn't it morning a few minutes ago?"

"Yeah." Angi said with worry from her place on my shoulder.

"Then why is it getting darker with every step we take?" I asked. "There's no way it's night time yet." Zelda started shaking all of a sudden. "Hey what's wrong?" I asked her putting my hand on her shoulder.

"He's near." she whispered shakily. My heart started pounding while frantically trying to think how to get passed Ganondorf without him noticing Zelda.

"Tangi hide somewhere, Zelda act sick, we might be able to get passed him without any danger." I whispered as I tucked the necklace Zelda gave me in my shirt. Angi flew into Zelda's hood and hid down in the jacket while Zelda leaned forward on the horse and handed me the reigns. Just as I had finished instructing them what to do, I could hear the sound of a heavy horse trotting our way.

"Halt!" a deep voice commanded. I did so and he came closer to us. "You, you're the one I saw in the forest." I slowly nodded to his comment. He seemed to smile then he noticed Zelda in front of me. I held my breath when I saw him staring at her. "What is wrong with the child?" his question caught me off guard.

"Uh... H-he's sick." I stammered, hoping against hope that this would work. I felt Zelda stop shaking a moment, probably since I just called her a boy. "I'm taking him to uh, Lake Hylia to get some uh, medicine." keeping my voice from shaking as much as possible. Zelda let out a little cough to help go along with my lie.

"Show me." he stated crossing his arms. I rose a shaky hand and pulled back her hood. Ganondorf's eyes widened once he saw the blonde hair. My heart stopped when I saw his reaction. He then smirked as he looked closer. "Hm, carry on." he said as he rode off towards Lon Lon Ranch.

"It worked." I sighed in relief. I took in a deep breath and slowly let it out to calm myself down. Angi flew out of Zelda's jacket and began flying around us in glee.

"We did it! We fooled Ganondorf!" she laughed cheerfully. "For a minute I thought your heart was going to explode Josh."

"And then it stopped all of a sudden." Zelda added sitting upright and looking over her shoulder at me. "Are you alright? You look pale."

"Yeah, give me a minute and I'll be back to normal." I replied giving her the reigns again. 'I can't believe how close that was.' I thought, my heart still beating like Bongo Bongo on a sugar high.

Zelda lightly kicked the horse in the sides to get him moving onto our destination. "And what's with calling me a boy?" Zelda questioned, a little giggle in her voice.

"Because you look like one your princelyness." I said, ruffling her hair again. She swatted my hand away and made the horse rear back making me fall off onto a soft patch of grass. The girls went into a giggle fit when I got up and brushed myself off. I walked over to the horse to get back on but Zelda made it go forward before I could reach it. This went on for a few minutes and it was starting to get annoying.

"Hey shouldn't it have gone back to day since Ganondorf left us?" Angi asked all of a sudden. Zelda and I froze at the realization.

"It's because he didn't leave us." I said in horror. I turned around and sure enough, there was a dark silhouette of a large man on a large horse on top of a far off hill. "He's been following us the whole time." I ran to our horse, jumped up and Zelda took off in full gallop through Hyrule fields.

Panic laced itself around us as we heard his evil laugh. "There's nowhere to hide out here princess!" he bellowed as he gave chase. "I will get you this time! There's no escape!"

I looked back and could see him gaining on us. 'Dammit, he'll be right beside us in less than a minute at this rate.' I thought, desperately trying to form a plan on how to get away from him. 'I could shoot at him, but he'd probably be on us by the time I got a good shot on him. On top of that I've never shot from a moving horse before so I'd probably miss anyway. The only other thing I can come up with is...' I let out a heavy sigh, wishing I had more time to think, only now he was about seven horse lengths away and still gaining. I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Hey Tangi." I whispered calmly. She looked at me, too scared to say anything. Ganondorf was now six horse lengths away. "I want you to make sure Zelda gets to Kakariko and finds Impa for me." Five horse lengths. I turned my body in the saddle so I was facing behind us. Zelda looked at me, wondering what I was doing but not able to say anything do to fear as well. Four horse lengths.

"Are you crazy?" she whispered back in shock. "You're coming with us and we'll find this Impa together!" Three horse lengths.

"Angi." I said sternly. She stopped, surprised that I hadn't used her nickname. "Please. I'll hold him off so you two can get away." Two horse lengths.

I twisted in my seat and pulled Angi and Zelda into a small hug. "Be safe and keep going you two." I said as I twisted back around and brought my legs up into the saddle. One horse length.

"What are yo- Josh!" Zelda cried as she saw me jump off of our horse and collide with Ganondorf, tackling him to the ground. She stopped the horse and looked down at me. "Run! He'll kill you!"

"No, you get out of here!" I called back as I got up from a stunned Ganondorf. "There's little hope for Hyrule if he manages to capture you!"

"Bu-" Zelda tried to say but I cut her off.

"I said get out of here! Your safety takes priority right now!" I yelled looking back at her. Even through the darkness I could see her eyes watering before she rode off to safety. 'Dammit Zelda, I told you I hate seeing people cry.'

"Well young man, you are either very brave or very, very stupid." said the Evil King as he stood up.

"I'd say a little of both." I said with a grin despite being at a painfully obvious disadvantage. A simple, stronger than average human, against a wizard that happens to be the bearer of the triforce of power. 'I'm pretty much screwed here. I REALLY should've thought this through.'

"Tell me something." the dark lord said. "Why would you betray your king in such a way?" annoyance clear in his voice.

"I have no king." I simply stated, watching him for any act of hostility, only there was none. He looked as if he knew nothing could hurt him even if his guard was down. Not only was his gaze unnerving but his attitude was really starting to tick me off.

"Hmm, you realize the penalty for treason is death." he said thoughtfully. "If you tell me where the princess is really headed, I may just overlook this little predicament you've gotten yourself into." he stated in an arrogant fashion.

"You make it sound as if you're my king. As I've said fifteen seconds ago. I have no king I serve." I replied, growing more and more annoyed.

"Yet you throw your life away for the King of Hyrule's daughter." he shot back.

"Call it an act of keeping a friend safe from an evil psycho, besides, I'm not dead yet." I said with my grin returning.

"That must be how you where born." he said out of the blue, well in this case black. I looked at him like he was a huge pig that transformed from a human... yeah. "Gerudo and Hylian features. Who was your mother?"

"It's not like it matters to you, she's not of this world." I said drawing my only weapon.

He laughed as he saw my machete. "You expect to defeat me with that? Ha! Only the sword of evil's bane can harm me. I'll kill you quickly and catch up to the princess before sundown." He cackled evilly.

"Two things wrong with you're theory." I said as I held up two fingers. "One: it's already sundown, and two:" I threw my machete at his horse. The sharp tip plunged into it's chest, causing it to drop dead. "You need a horse to catch them."

"You will pay for killing Snuggles." he growled. I busted out laughing despite his intent to kill me. "I will enjoy making you suffer. It will be a while until you see your parents again." he said with an evil glare.

"I don't take too kindly to threats" I said, narrowing my eyes at him after I finished laughing. He only glared as he walked towards me. 'My first official fight is against a power crazed, battle hardened king. Maybe he'll underestimate me. Well if Link can win a stalemate with him maybe I can too, then again he has a triforce piece too.' I was brought out of my thoughts by the lack of ground under my feet and the lack of air going into my lungs.

Ganondorf had grabbed my throat and hoisted me off the ground with his left hand and pulled his other hand back to punch me in the gut. I used my left arm to knock his punch off course and barely miss me.

'Desperate times, desperate measures.' I thought as I struggled for air. I pulled my leg back and launched it forward, aiming for the spot that could bring even the strongest man to his knees.

~ sc ~

A cry of pain rang out through Hyrule field making a rider stop her horse. "That was..." she whispered turning the horse back the way she had just come from. "Could he actually be..." she raced off in the direction of the scream not bothering to finish her thought.

~ sc ~

Ganondorf had dropped me roughly on the ground after I kicked him. I scooted away while he was busy kneeling on the ground breathing somewhat heavily. Once I was a safe distance I started rubbing my shin. 'Of course he'd have a freakin' crotch plate.' I thought angrily. 'Note to self: never kick a metal plate that hard with my bare leg again. If I survive this I'm definitely gonna have a bruise there.'

"You scream like a girl." the dark man laughed when he slowly stood up.

"That wasn't a scream, that was a manly yell of pain and you're the one who named your horse after a teddy bear." I said with a smirk still holding my shin. He growled at the mention of his motionless stallion. He clenched his fists and ran towards me. Once he was in arms reach he pulled his right hand back and it started to glow purple. Not wanting to get hit by whatever he was doing, I jumped back a few feet and landed sloppily due to the pain in my leg.

"Haaa aaaaah!" he let out as he released the punch, causing a purple swirl along his arm and a small distortion in the air at his fist.

'I don't even want to know what that would've done to me.' I thought with wide eyes as I got up. 'At least he's on the slow side, but from the looks of it he more than makes up for that in power. Of course he would, that's his triforce piece.' I was brought out of my thoughts by the sound of heavy footsteps coming my way.

I barely dodged his punch by twisting to the side and followed up by grabbing his arm and slung him over me onto the ground. I lifted my leg up and stomped down towards his chest. Before my boot reached him, he put up his hands and caught my foot, stopping it before I could do any damage. We where at a stalemate until his leg came up and kicked me in the face. The force of the kick knocked me off of him and I rolled backwards in order to put a little distance between us. I felt my face, expecting to feel a bloody nose but was surprised that I wasn't all that hurt. Sure my face stung a bit, but that's it. I then noticed a warm feeling on my upper chest and looked down my shirt collar.

'Zelda's necklace' I thought with a smile. 'Must be why I'm not hurting so much. I don't think I'll ever understand this magic stuff.' I snapped myself out of my thoughts and noticed that Ganondorf had just gotten up. "Is that all you got?" I asked, beckoning to him in a taunting manner. He growled and charged at me quicker than I expected. He did a powerful front kick but I managed to dodge to the side and kneed him in the stomach. I connected but the result left me just as hurt as him. "Damn armor." I said aloud, backing up and rubbing my knee. Before I could do anything else, Ganondorf had shot forward and grabbed me by my throat and picked me up again. I quickly planted my right foot on his hip to help throw my left leg over his head. I then started pulling on his arm after straightening my right over his chest. He let go of my throat from pain and I twisted his wrist for added effect. 'Didn't think I'd have to use the little bit I learned from the spars at my friend's martial arts class.'

"Enough of this!" he bellowed. His hand glowed yellow and he easily pulled back against me due to electricity making me lose control. He then swung his arm hard enough that I was thrown to the ground. I got up but he charged at me with a dark purple aura around his right hand and picked me up by my head. I don't know what it was but the purple exploded around me and sent a wave of pain through me. He pulled his left hand back and punched me in the stomach and tossed me to the ground. I shook most of it off and got up. "Want more do you?" he chuckled darkly.

"First experience with magic. It hurts but it's not too bad." I said brushing myself off. "Plus you punch like a sissy." I laughed weakly. 'To hell with that. He hits like a bodybuilder.' I thought rubbing my stomach. 'I'd hate to not have this necklace right now.' I looked over at him to see that he was powering up. 'Not good.'

He let out a loud laugh as he floated into the air. "Hahahaha! You stand no chance against me." he bellowed as a yellow ball of electricity formed in his hand. Remembering what I had to do, I ran over to Snuggles and yanked my machete out of its chest. He threw the ball at me and I mimicked what Link does to send it back. Only difference was that I didn't have the Master Sword, and that's a problem.

Once my blade made contact with the ball, my whole body tensed up from the electricity and I fell to one knee. 'Geez that felt like a worn out tazer!' I thought as I slowly stood back up. 'There's nothing I can do to hurt him, I wish Link was here to help.'

"Pathetic." he said throwing another lightning ball at me. I stumbled to the side, still a little winded from his punch earlier. "This battle was over before it even began." he laughed sending another ball my way.

"Well aren't you full of yourself." I yelled as I jumped away. "You're right but you don't need to point out the obvious ten times in one minute." We kept this shoot and dodge montage going for a while and I was actually starting to get bored. They were easy to dodge, and they didn't hurt too bad. I let out a fake yawn to get on his nerves.

"You find me boring do you?" he growled. "I was taking it easy on you, but now you will truly suffer pain you've never experienced before!" He twisted his body to where his side was facing me and put his hands over each other. A small purple orb appeared between them, growing to the size of a basketball and began to get darker and darker. I looked around for anything to hide behind but something caught my eye. A small orange orb, off in the distance by a horse and rider's silhouette. My eyes widened in shock when I realized who it was.

"No." I breathed out. "I told you to get out of here!" I yelled angrily. Ganondorf was too busy concentrating on his dark purple orb to notice who I was yelling at, and I was too busy yelling at the figure to notice that he was almost done. "Move!" but she didn't budge.

"HAAAAA!" Ganondorf yelled putting his palms together and shot a large, dark purple beam at me. Everything slowed down in my eyes. I looked back at him and the beam coming straight for me. I didn't have time to dodge so I brought my arms and closed my eyes in hopes of somehow reducing the damage. A bright blue light made it passed my eyelids and I felt a strong force collide with me.

'Zelda, you better have gotten away.' I thought as darkness took its grip on my mind.

~ sc/vc ~

"Was I too late?" Zelda asked looking at the small crater that was just made by Ganondorf's attack. She watched the wizard float down to it and inspect the dark hole. He reared his head back and let out a loud victorious laugh, satisfied with the sight of charred earth and destruction that he caused.

"Princess we need to go!" Angi choked out. "We can't let his sacrifice go in vain." She tugged on Zelda's ear to get her to start moving. Zelda unfolded her hands, grabbed the reigns, and steered the horse towards Kakariko Village.

"I hope the goddesses heard me in time." Zelda said sadly as they rode across Hyrule field.

"What do you mean?" Angi asked from her spot in Zelda's hood.

"I prayed that Josh would be safe, but I don't think my prayers reached them in time." the princess whispered looking to the fairy with a tear running down her face. "That evil man has taken another person that was close to me." she sobbed as another tear followed.

"Hey," Angi said trying to cheer her up, "Josh wouldn't want you to cry and neither do I. We just need to believe that he's alright and he will be." They shared a sad smile and continued to Kakariko in silence.

* * *

I'm sure this is a good break from the 'not so much happening' in the previous chapters. I'd like at least a few reviews on how I'm doing so far but hey, that's up to the readers to leave a little feedback, comment, or a suggestion. Anyway hope you liked it.


	4. And So It Begins

First off I would like to thank TheAudienceOfOne for being my first reviewer out of over 150 hits... that hurts a little. I mean I know it's not the best story in the world but I think it's worth a few words right?

Anyway I've decided to throw in a little drama and romance, but that'll come in a little later on down the road.

~ sc ~ = scene change, ~ vc ~ = view change, _dream sequences/visions_

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* * *

_

_The sound of rustling leaves and barking dogs echoed throughout a white forest. Dark figures of people and dogs were running around as if searching for something important. Turning over rocks, looking in bushes, and climbing trees for a better view._

"_Find anything?" one called but the others just shook their heads. "Well keep looking. We're not stopping until we find some sign of-"_

"_Hey, look at that." one called in an annoying girly voice as it pointed towards a dip in the ground. "It looks like something happened over there."_

"_Let's go check it out." another one said with in a raspy whisper. Suddenly the world began to turn a bright blue and began to shake a bit._

"_Hey!" the girl called as the blue light engulfed everything._

_~ sc ~_

"Hey!" I heard a girl yell as I was shaken from my dream by something small lightly pushing my face. "Are you alright?"

'Why do I have a sudden urge to slap a fairy?' I wondered as I lie still on the ground. 'And what was that I was dreaming about? I don't think I've ever seen anything like it. Was it some movie?'

"He looks hurt. You think a stalchild got him?" another voice asked though it seemed pretty raspy, like someone who yells or sings a lot.

"No, it doesn't look like he's been out here long." the girl replied.

'Am I going insane?' I thought, realizing I was laying face down on the ground with my arms covering my head. 'The girl's voice sounds familiar though. Like I've heard it a lot before.'

"Maybe he just got tired and fell asleep." the other voice said which I presumed to be a guy. By now I felt like I could move a little but decided to stay still and listen a little more. I heard foot steps come over to me and stopped by my side.

"Be careful, he might just be waiting for you to get near him so he can attack you. He looks strong and has a dagger in his hand." the girl said with caution.

"I'll be fine, if he did attack me I'm pretty sure I could hold my own against him. I've faced worse odds after all." he said with confidence.

'At least whoever this guy is doesn't sound arrogant.' I thought still laying there slowly breathing.

"Is he even alive?" he asked pushing his foot into my side. I grunted when I felt his foot dig into my ribs. I moved my arms and pushed his leg away from me. "Whoa he is alive. Are you alright?" he asked kneeling down beside me.

"I'll live." I grunted as I rolled over to my back and propped myself up on my elbows.

"Watch out!" a blue fairy screamed making me and the green clad guy give her a confused look. "Look at his ears, he's not Hylian! He's gotta be Ganondorf in disguise!" The elf looked at me a second and my eyes widened in fear when he drew his sword. He stabbed down at me and I quickly rolled to the side but the blade managed to cut my arm a little. I slid my leg along the ground in hopes of sweeping his legs out from under him but he pulled his sword up and back flipped away before I my leg could touch him.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" I yelled as I rolled away from another one of his jump stabs. "Here I am miraculously getting up from one of Ganondorf's strong magic beam thingys, and I'm greeted by a guy in white tights trying to skewer me with his sword!" the guy seemed to hesitate for a moment and I used the moment to quickly but shakily get to my feet.

"Don't listen to him Link!" the blue orb said frantically. "He's just trying to get you to drop your guard!"

"I don't know Navi, he doesn't seem like he's evil." Link rasped as he pulled his sword out of the ground and stared at me. I threw down my machete and stumbled back from it, getting a confused look from the two.

"I'm not gonna fight you. I wouldn't last long right now and I'm sure you've got plenty more experience than me anyway." I said sitting down and watching him closely. Link shrugged and put his sword back in it's sheath and walked towards me. He bent down and picked up my machete on the way and examined it when he stopped in front of me. I looked up at him a little worried at what he'd do since I was tired and weaponless at the moment.

"What kind of dagger is this? It's not very sharp." he asked holding it out to me to take. I took it, sheathed it, and grabbed his hand that he offered and he pulled me up.

"Thanks and it's not a dagger." I stated. "It's a machete, a tool used to cut plants and clear small paths in the woods."

"But it's got blood on it." Navi piped up fluttering over to Link and crossed her arms at me.

"I had a bit of a run in with a power crazed wizard." I said standing at my full height. 'Ha, I'm half a head taller than you greeny.' I thought with a smile despite being exhausted.

"You fought Ganodorf here?" Navi asked in shock while Link quickly drew his sword and shield, scanning the area wildly. "Where is he?" she was slightly shaking and looking around frantically.

I looked around too but nothing evil seemed to be around at the moment. Heck it looked as peaceful as a child's fairytale ending. I looked down at the spot that I was laying a few seconds ago and noticed that the ground had a small dip to it. "Was that bright light and force the feel of time travel?" I asked out loud.

"Bright light?" Navi asked calming down since she and Link couldn't find any sign of Ganondorf being around the immediate area.

"Yeah. Right before Ganondorf's attack hit me a bright light flashed and I felt like I was being pulled through the air." I said looking over to her. "Zelda better have gotten away from him." I finished as I started walking in the direction of Death Mountain.

"Wait, Zelda? As in Princess Zelda?" Navi asked flying up to my face. I squinted my eyes and raised my hand up in order to block some of her light out. I was still use to the darkness and her bright blue glow wasn't helping. "What happened? Is she alright?"

"Yeah Princess Zelda. As far as I know she's hiding somewhere safe from Ganondorf. He shouldn't have caught her since I took out his means of transportation.. As far as where she is, I have no idea." I said getting use to her glow and able to make out her figure. 'I feel like I've forgotten something really important.'

"So you don't have any idea at all where she is?" Link asked with his raspiness while walking beside me.

"Nope, considering I was some how shot seven years through time, she could be anywhere." I said after a moment of thought. Link and Navi paused in their pace for a second when they heard that.

"Seven years?" Navi asked I simply nodded in response. "That's how long we where in the Chamber of Sages. So you're saying you where about Link's age when you fought him? You must not have last too long." Link let out an annoyed grunt and I laughed at his reaction.

"No I'm still the same as when I fought him. I guess that force took my whole body through time instead of me being sealed away somewhere." I said thoughtfully. "Haha I've been eighteen for seven years... weird. So what are you going to do now that your up and about?" I asked Link. He rubbed his throat and pointed to Navi.

"A man named Sheik told us to go to Kakariko Village so we can get something in order to get into the Forest Temple." Navi explained. "We're heading there to look for it and wake up the sages and defeat Ganondorf."

"Well seeing as I've done as much as I could to keep Zelda safe, I'll tag along with you two and help you out with what I can." I said with a smile. "I've gotta get back at Ganondorf for those hits he got on me."

Before any of them could respond a wolf howled as it became night. The sound of earth being dug up caught our attention and we looked around to see little white arms sticking out of the ground. Link and I drew our weapons and moved back to back since we were surrounded by small skeletons pulling themselves out of the ground. I was calm on the outside but was starting to freak out a little on the inside. Sure I've killed plenty of skeletons in games, but seeing them actually crawling out of the ground and walking towards you is a little unnerving.

Link didn't waste any time and jumped into the fray with a battle cry. He skillfully blocked, dodged, and slashed his way through the walking bones. Me, well I just dodged mostly since I didn't have a shield like him. One swung at me just as I landed from jumping back and hit me in the same spot Link cut me earlier. I grunted in pain and grabbed the Stalchild's arm that scratched me.

"Eat boot!" I yelled launching a straight kick into its face while still holding on to its arm. Its body and face went flying into the crowd, knocking a few over like a bowling ball. I chuckled and decided to use its arm as a makeshift weapon along with my machete. Since I didn't have a shield or a long sword like Link, I resorted to mostly kicking the short skeletons' heads off and blocking as much as I could with my weapons. Every couple of Stalchild that I defeated I needed to get another arm since they weren't all that durable. After a while of kicking I switched to just using the bone and blade combo to save a little more energy since it looked like we would be at this a while.

~ sc ~

"Finally daybreak." I sighed in relief. "I've never been so happy to see the sun peak over the horizon, and look we made it to the stairs to Kakariko." I pointed out while leaning on Link for support.

"Don't speak so lightly, you could've died back there." Navi chastised while fluttering up and down.

"It's just a few scratches, besides I got 'em all back with a little extra." I said with a somewhat pained smile due to the cuts on my arms and a few on my face. "I was still tired from being pulled through time so they had the advantage, not to mention they had numbers on their side." I finished as Link helped me walk up the long staircase. "So what did this Sheik guy say you needed in order to get into the Forest Temple?" I asked. They both shrugged

"He didn't say, but the last time I saw it, there was a tree branch sticking over the steps to the Forrest Temple." Navi said thoughtfully Link nodded in confirmation. "Do you know of anything that could get us up there?"

"Yeah, but mind if we stop by the potion shop first? I'd rather get patched up before I go grave robbing." I laughed at Navi's and Link's expressions.

"Grave robbing?" she asked shocked. "You mean we have to go back into the graveyard?"

"Yep." I said with a smile feeling a shiver go through Link. We made our way to the potion shop, not noticing a few people giving me strange looks and Link bought a bottle of the red potion once we made it inside. He handed it to me and I took it gratefully. I pulled out the cork and sniffed it, nearly dropping it from the smell. "Ugh... what's in this?" I asked, looking at the red liquid. "On second thought, don't tell me."

"Go on drink it. It can't be that bad." Navi said with Link vigorously shaking his head showing that it was. Navi flew into the back of his head once she noticed what he was doing. "Just drink it." she said getting annoyed. I let out a childish whine and downed the whole thing. I gagged once I finished but I could already feel my cuts begin to heal. I gave Link the bottle back and he went to the counter to get a refill. After that we made our way to the Kakariko Graveyard to search for the very helpful hookshot.

~ sc ~

"So what we need is in one of these graves?" Navi asked looking over at me, hoping I was wrong. I nodded and both she and Link visibly gulped. "Link had a bad experience with the redead that resided in the royal family tomb. Please tell me that we don't have to worry about them."

"Oh, right. Redead." I said remembering the zombie-like creatures. 'Freaky things scared me when I was younger' I thought. "Nope, no redead in the place we're looking for, at least I don't think there are. Anyway, rumor has it the ghost in the grave is fast and if you can beat him in a race, he'll give you a reward. Supposedly it's grappling thing called the hookshot. We can probably use it to get into the Forest Temple." I recalled walking around the graveyard looking for a tombstone that stood out more than the rest. "I think this one's it." I said pointing to one with flowers growing in front of it.

"Here lies Dempsey, the fastest man in the underworld." Navi read. "Must be it." she said as Link walked behind the grave and pulled it back, revealing a dark hole. He walked to the front of it beside me and looked down into the grave.

"Well seeing as you're the more agile of the two of us, good luck Link!" I said cheerfully as I lightly slapped his back, knocking him forward and making him fall in. He let out a yell and a grunt when he landed. "I'll come back in a few minutes, you should have it by then." I called down to him. "I'm sure you won't have any problems getting it." I said walking away. I heard him yell something but couldn't understand it.

'Alright what to do?' I thought, while walking through Kakariko Village. 'Target practice? Sure... dammit. I left my bow on the horse with Zelda. Well there goes a hundred bucks down the drain, but at least she's safe.' I thought letting out a long sigh. 'Guess I'll just go to the windmill for a bit and listen to the Song of Storms.' I looked up at the windmill and started walking towards it. 'Now that I think about it, I haven't even introduced myself to them. Heck Link actually talked, thought he was suppose to be a mu- ' "Oof" I let out as I collided with something.

I looked down and saw a young woman sprawled on the ground, soaked from the bucket of water I made her spill on herself. "I'm so sorry miss!" I apologized, quickly helping the blonde woman up and grabbed her bucket. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

"It's alright, I was lost in thought and wasn't watching where I was walking." she said, looking down and squeezing some water out of her light blue dress. I walked over to the well and filled the bucket up. I walked back to her and held it out to her. She grabbed it after she wiped some of the water off of her tan skin. "Than-" she froze once she looked at my face. "Even here?" she breathed out like she was scared to death.

"Sorry." I chuckled with a sheepish smile. She dropped the bucket and started backing away from me. "What's wrong?" I asked confused and concerned. Her red eyes quivered a bit and she turned and ran off into the village. "Miss? Miss!" I called to her but she didn't even look back. I looked down the well at my refection to see if something was on my face. I saw nothing out of the ordinary, just my usual short brown hair and brown eyes. "Did she think I was Ganondorf?" I asked myself while continuing my walk to the windmill.

I opened the door and was greeted by the sound of the Song of Storms being played on a music box. The man glanced over at me for a second and then went back to concentrating on turning the handle of his box. I stared at the middle pillar for a moment but stopped, not wanting to get dizzy from watching it spin so fast and sat down against the wall. 'I know it's been a while since I've played Ocarina of Time, but I feel like I should remember more than I do. I remember the gist of it, like where to find the key items and how to get them, but what happens and when just don't come to mind. Same goes for when Navi mentioned Sheik. Nothing comes to mind about him but I know he's really important. Must've been that time warp that messed with my head.' I growled in aggravation. 'Ah well, better go check on Link. He should have the hookshot by now.' I thought getting up and walking to the door. I heard someone yelp above me and looked up only for something white and partially heavy knock me to the ground.

"Are you alright Link?" Navi asked from behind whatever was blocking my vision. "Wow that pathway lead back to the windmill?" she asked.

"Link," I said calmly. "Get your butt outta my face!" I yelled actually throwing him off of me. "Geez, ever heard the saying 'Look where you leap?'" I asked, not very happy at having someone landing butt first on my face.

He got up and smiled at me sheepishly. He walked over to me and held his hand out to help me up. I grabbed it and got pulled up but held onto it when I was standing. He looked at me with a confused look.

"Nice to meet ya. I'm Josh, Zelda's official, unofficial bodyguard... at least I was." I said with a smile.

"Link" he rasped, returning the smile as we shook hands.

"And I'm Navi, Link's fairy guardian." Navi said happily

'Fairy guardian... You better have gotten away too Tangi.' I thought, my smile dropping a bit but returning when I held a gloved finger out to the blue fairy to shake. "So, I take it you managed to get the hookshot?" I asked looking over at Link. He nodded and pulled it seemingly out of nowhere. "Where did- never mind, so we've got everything we need?" I asked walking to the door. They nodded in response and followed me out. "Good let's go."

"You sure seem to want to leave in a hurry." Navi said while flying around us. "Did something happen?"

"Kinda." I said shutting the door and walking towards the exit with them in tow. "I bumped into a lady on my way to the windmill and she ran off once she saw my face. I'm guessing she thought I was Ganondorf and if she did, I'm sure others would think the same. My ears probably made her think that" I laughed, both Navi and Link looked away when I said that.

"Sorry." Link and Navi said in unison. I looked over at them with a confused look. "We assumed you were Ganondorf trying to disguise himself as a Hylian." Navi said like she was ashamed of

herself with Link nodding, making me chuckle.

"Ah don't worry about it, you two actually saved me twice already." I said trying to cheer them up. "If you hadn't shown up when you did the stalchild would've finished me off, and then you bought me the potion so forget about it." I finished, getting a smile from them. "And learn not to assume because it makes an ass out of you and me. Anyway let's go. Onwards to the Forest Temple!" I called enthusiastically pumping my fist into the air and running to the exit of Kakariko Village. Link laughed and ran behind me.

"Boys." Navi said with a sigh as she followed behind us. When we reached the bottom of the staircase to Kakariko, Link tapped me on my shoulder and pointed in the direction of Lon Lon Ranch.

"Sure" I said with a smile. "I'm sure Malon would love to see how you've grownb but she's probably gonna be mad and happy at the same time." I laughed when he tilted his head and drooped his ears a bit from confusion.

~ sc ~

"Deja vu" I said as we passed through Lon Lon Ranch's gates just as it was getting dark. "It was just getting dark the last time I came here. Only thing that's missing is the-" I was cut off by the bone chilling crow of a pained cucco. I looked around frantically and noticed that one was under Link's boot. He jumped back in surprise by the sudden outburst from the bird. "Run Link!" I yelled hearing a flock of cuccos already on the way. He ran off to the corral but dropped his wallet in his haste. I watched as Navi flew off behind the green clad warrior being chased by a bunch of white birds.

"Just like what I went throught." I laughed as I picked up his bag of rupees and looked in. "Whoa." I breathed out, shocked that so many of the jewels could fit in a bag that was as big as my hand. "There's at least fifty in here and from the looks of it, only a quarter of them are green... cool, he already has a good amount of money." I said walking off to the corral, slipping the bag of rupees in my left leg pocket. "Excuse me si- Ingo?" I asked the man standing by the corral gate.

"Welcome to my ranch young man." he greeted in a kind yet stuck up manner. "Would you like to ride one of my horses for a little? Only ten rupees."

'Riiiight, Ingo takes over.' I thought. "Uh actually, I was wondering if you saw a guy in a green tunic running from a flock of cuccos." I said with a grin.

"Oh the guy in tights?" he sneered making me hold back a laugh. "Yeah he ran in the cow stables like he owns the place. I should kick him out for that."

"Don't worry I'll talk him into riding one of your horses if that makes up for it." I said walking to where Link ran off to. I heard something along the lines of 'his time will be cut by half' but didn't pay any mind to it. 'Still the same old jackass.' I thought as I walked into the stables once the cuccos dispersed.

"Hey Link how about a quick horse race?" I called out as I entered the building. Not getting a response I went about to look for him. I spotted Navi floating over a hay bale. I looked over it and saw Link hunched over in the feedle position. "You've gotta be kidding me." I laughed. "You jump into a grave without a second thought and you're scared of a few cuccos? Come on, I know something that'll cheer you up." I said picking him up throwing him over my shoulders in a fireman carry. 'Are all elves this light? Well from what I know, they're more agile than humans so that would make a lot of since.' I thought to myself as I carried Link back out to the horse corral.

"Hey Ingo, my friend wants to ride the horses for a bit." I said dropping my passenger to his feet and giving him his wallet back.

"Ten rupees." he said simply holding his hand out. Link gave him the money and walked in looking for a horse to ride. "You too." he said holding his hand out to me.

"I'm not riding, just watching." I replied as I went and leaned against the fence. He shrugged and went in after Link and locked the gate. A familiar tune reached my ears as I recognized Epona's Song. 'This shouldn't take too long, wow Epona's turned out to be a beautiful horse. Malon raised her well. Speaking of her, I wonder where she is.' I thought watching Link mount the auburn mare. I watched them jump the small obstacles but jumped back when I noticed a horse sniffing the side of my face. "Well look who we have here." I said holding my hand out to the tan horse. "Seeing you tells me that Tangi and Zelda are safe. Thanks for the ride buddy." He nudged up against my hand as I scratched his snout. I looked over and saw Ingo and Link talking. "Must be race time."

"Hey kid, c'mere a second. I need you to judge a race." Ingo called over to me. He mounted his own horse and waited at the starting line for me with Link beside him. I walked over to the starting line and held my hand up.

"Ready?" I called out and they nodded. "Go!" They took off with Ingo having a bit of a jump-start, repeatedly smacked his horses rump to get an early lead. Link followed right behind him and passed him when Ingo turned too wide. The rest of the way Ingo was eating Link's and Epona's dust. "GOOOOAAAAL!" I cried out dramatically. "Link wins."

"Gah! No! If the great Ganondorf found out about this humiliation..." Ingo yelled out. "One more race! If you win, you can... you can keep that horse!"

'Wow you hate losing that bad that you'd bet a horse? Ah well, works for us.' I thought. "Alright next race. Get ready!" I called and the racers lined at the starting line. "Go!" They started off neck and neck this time but Ingo went to cut Link off. At the last moment Epona sprang forward causing Ingo's horse to almost slam into the fence and lose some of its momentum. Ingo somehow quickly caught up to Link but couldn't pass him before they passed the finish line. "And the winner is... Liiiink and Eponaaaaaa!" I called out like a fighting announcer. 'I'm having too much fun with this.' I thought with a grin.

"What's with that horse?" Ingo cried out. "How did you manage to tame Epona right under my

nose? I was going to give her to the great Ganondorf as a gift but I bet her in a race and lost!" he yelled out holding his head and flailing around like he was dizzy. I was too busy laughing to notice him ride over to the ranch gates and dismount his horse. He let out an eerily calm laugh as he walked to the side of it. "As promised, I'll give you the horse." he said in his creepy tone. "However, I'll never let you leave this ranch!" he cackled as he slammed the gates shut.

"Why you no good son of a-" Link cut me off by leaning down and putting a hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him and he motioned for me to get on Epona with him. I climbed up with his help since most of the saddle was already taken. Once I was sure I wouldn't fall off easily, I gave him the 'ok' and we took off towards the back wall. When we where a few feet away Epona jumped the low wall and gracefully landed in Hyrule fields. Link then steered Epona to the entrance of the Kokiri Forest.

"Yeeeaaah, we need to get a bigger saddle if we're going to do that again." I said in pain through clenched teeth. Link looked back at me in concern "Gimme a minute, I'll be fine. Just landed wrong." my voice was a little bit higher than usual. He grimaced but continued to the wooden cave that lead to Kokiri Forest. When we made it to the tunnel, Epona stopped suddenly making me and Link fly forward and into the tunnel.

"Well, I guess Epona doesn't like tunnels." I said as we picked ourselves off the ground, "Looks like we're walking from here on in."

* * *

I honestly haven't played through this in a while so somethings may be a bit off. If I'm way off, let me know and I'll find a way to make it work. Also tell me how I'm dong, good or bad, and let me know if you like it. All reviews are wealcome so yeah... review!


	5. To and Through the Forest Sage Slumber

A very good point was, well, pointed out. The gist of the storyline will be in play, but expect things to be different. I'm not going to write out the whole dungeon adventures since everyone has probably been through them enough to remember what's skipped.

For those who stick with this story, enjoy.

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Link looked excited to be back home after being away for seven years. "Hey Link," I said putting my hand on his shoulder to calm him down a bit. "You grew up here right?" he nodded happily. "I don't mean to be a downer but," I paused trying to think of a nice way to put it, "A lot can change in seven years, and with Ganodorf having no one to defy him easily... well, it's probably taken a turn for the worse." He looked me straight in the eyes with a worried expression on his face.

"Link wait!" I called to him when he suddenly ran off ahead. I let out an agitated sigh and chased after him down the trail to a large clearing that had houses built into large trees. I looked around but noticed that nobody was around, I didn't even see Link anywhere. "Link!" I called out walking into the meadow cautiously due to the lack of activity. I heard a scream and ran off to find who made it. When I made it around a large tree stump I saw a giant Deku Baba grab a kid in green clothes in its mouth.

"Hang on kid!" I yelled as I ran and slashed the large plant's stem with my machete. About halfway in the oversized plant, my blade stopped and got stuck. "You've gotta be kidding me!" I yelled while the Deku baba let out a hiss of pain, dropping the kid. It reared its head back and rammed into me. It knocked me back but I still had a firm grip on my machete so it came with me. It reared back and charged again but stopped right before hitting me since I was just out of its reach. I smirked as it snapped at my face. I flipped my weapon in my hand and stabbed the blade down in its head. Its head shot straight up in pain and I took the chance to run in and slam into its stem. I collided with it and it snapped where I put a gash in it earlier. It fell to the ground motionless and I walked to its head to pull my machete out.

"You alright kid?" I asked as I walked over and keeled down to his height. He nodded and ran off to hide in one of the houses. I smiled to myself, knowing that I probably just saved his life. "Man I love the feeling of making a difference for someone. Better get to finding Link though. Maybe I should check his house." I said as I headed to the highest tree house, dodging Deku Babas and the occasional deku scrub. "Link?" I called out once I reached the ladder.

"Are you looking for that tall guy with the fairy?" the boy from earlier asked from behind me. I jumped and spun around but nodded when I saw him. "He went into the Lost Woods. I don't know why, he's just going to turn into a stalfos. Oh and thanks for saving me earlier."

"No problem and thanks for telling me where he went. You should go and hide, we're going to fix this little monster problem." I said as I ran off towards the tunnel that lead to the Lost Woods. Once I entered, a faint melody rang in my ears. "Cool, Saria's song actually plays in the woods. Or is she leading Link to the temple? Either way this has gotta be the right way." I said aloud as I followed where it was coming from.

After a while of losing the melody, picking it up, losing it, getting tripped by skull kids, kicking said skull kids over a wall, getting lost, getting shot by deku scrubs, picking up the melody, getting lost again, and finally picking it back up again, I found a tunnel with a kid blocking the path.

"I'm Mido, the gatekeeper of the Forest Temple. Only Saria's friends are allowed back here." He said holding up his hand as if he could hold me back.

'Ooof course you are.' I thought sarcastically. "Look kid I'm kinda in a hurry." I said as I went to walk past him but I walked into an invisible wall. "What the?" I asked stumbling back.

"Your not going any further unless you prove you're trustworthy." he said still holding his hands out. I sighed and started whistling Saria's Song. I smirked when I saw the look of shock on his face. "S-Saria only taught her friends that song... Ok I trust you, you can pass." he said walking to the side of the tunnel. I ran forward through the tunnel and continued following the melody until I saw Link standing at the entrance of the maze that lead to the Sacred Forest Meadow.

"Link! Finally I caught up to you." I said running up to him. "Leaving me in a forest that I don't know my way around in. That's not nice ya know?"

"Took you long enough." said an annoyed fairy. "We were just about to head on without you."

"Well you didn't have to leave me back there." I said irritated at Navi for what she said. "Ah well at least I managed to save that kid." Link looked at me with a confused expression. "When I entered the clearing in Kokiri forest, a kid was attacked by a giant Deku Baba but I managed to save him. My machete got stuck in it but I killed it." I said pulling out my machete and inspected the blade.

He held out his hand so he could look at it and I gave it to him. I looked at him questioningly as he walked over to a tree and started slashing it with my machete. He stopped after a moment and looked at the black blade. He walked back over to me and gave it back. I put it away and watched as he pulled the Kokiri sword out of nowhere and held it out to me. I took it and he nodded when I pointed to myself with a questioning look. I pulled the sword out of its sheath and looked it over. It was the same length of my machete but I could tell it was sharper. Then again it was a sword, well more of a dagger in our case but it was a blade made specifically for combat none-the-less.

"Thanks." I said with a smile as I readjusted my machete to where it was now on my lower back with the handle towards my left. I put the Kokiri sword on my back like Link but it was on my right instead. 'Just like Taki, only a lot less ninja like.' "Oh almost forgot." I said as I drew my new sword and held it above my head. "Da da da daaaaa." I laughed and Link joined in. Navi just sighed and flew back to the entance of the maze.

"Come on we need to hurry and save Saria." she said fluttering up and down to get our attention. "But we need to be careful, from here on we'll be going through narrow passages and it sounds like big monsters are here." Once she said that I could hear loud footsteps of the moblins that walked through the maze.

"That won't be a problem. We'll just go over." I said walking up to the first wall of the maze. "Come over here Link, I'll give you a boost." I went to kneel down but stopped when I heard a roar. "Ah fffff-" I was cut off by the bulky pig-like monster charging at me with its spear ready to impale me. Luckily I managed to grab just behind the blade on the spear but the moblins momentum kept pushing me to the wall. I tried to push back but it wasn't going too well. Now I've got a pretty good build with being a firefighter and all, but if you're in a contest of strength and your opponent has three times the muscle mass, you're going to lose. My feet were sliding on the ground and my arms were straining to keep the spear point from going inside my gut. Before it could impale me on the wall, it let out a cry of pain and collapsed. I looked over the dead body to see Link holding out the hookshot and aiming it at the motionless body. "Phew, thanks a lot." I said, making him grin.

"Let's try this again." I said as I walked over to him and kneeled down and cupped my hands together. He put a foot in and I hoisted him up to were he could climb the rest of the way up. Once he was up he laid down and held a hand out for me. I jumped up, grabbed his hand, and he pulled me up enough to were I could get both of my hands on the ledge to pull myself up. "See? Simple as that." I said as we jumped over the narrow pathways of the maze. I stopped when I saw a secluded passage surrounded by walls that had a dark hole in the middle of it.

"Do you have any empty bottles on you?" I asked Link. He nodded and held one out to me. "I'm gonna check what's in that hole. You two go on ahead, I'll catch up." I said as I took the bottle. He went on to the straight passage to the Forest Temple while I made my way to the dark circle. I jumped down into the dark hole and landed on a rainbow plate with light coming down from above. 'Weird, couldn't see down it from above.' I thought as I walked into the fountain with a bunch of different colored fairies flying around. 'Wow this place is beautiful.' I went to the center of the six pillars and uncorked the bottle while looking for a pink one. I spotted one, caught it in the bottle and walked back to the hole. I stepped onto the rainbow plate and felt myself being lifted out of the fairy fountain. I didn't notice that one of the fairies had a curious expression and started following a little ways behind me.

Once I made it out of the hole, I climbed back on top of the maze using the ladder on the wall and headed towards the path to the Forest Temple. I walked down the long, narrow passage and the sound of a harp being played grabbed my attention. When I made it to the top of the stairs I saw Link playing his ocarina with a person in a white and blue body suit with a red drawing of a crying eye on the chest. The stranger, known as Sheik, also had a thick white scarf and turban so I could only see one closed eye due to the other being covered up by a turf of blonde hair. 'What was that one called again? Something of forest.' I thought as I hummed along with them. 'Minute? Monuet? Minuet? Yeah that was it, the Minuet of Forest.' I thought as we finished.

"I must warn you of something." Sheik said to Link in a muffled voice. "A man was spotted in Kakariko that-" He looked over at me with a wide red eye and let out a gasp. He quickly threw down a deku nut making my vision go blurry because of the flash. When my vision returned a few seconds later, the ninja was nowhere in sight.

'I don't remember him saying that.' I thought and looked over to Link to see him still covering his eyes. 'Then again, not playing something for a while will make you forget some things.' While he was busy getting his sight back, I walked over to him and picked up the hookshot that he dropped somehow. I went over to the tree and aimed the hookshot at the branch that hung over the broken staircase to the temple. I pulled the trigger and the sharp end shot off and stuck into the wood like an arrow would. I was expecting to be pulled up once the point connected but the chain just dangled lazily. I looked at the handle but only saw the one trigger, I pressed it again and the handle retracted the chain making it shoot out of my hand.

"Uh oh." I said as I looked from my empty hand to the hookshot dangling from the tree branch. "Hey uh, Link. I need you to come over here a sec." He walked over to me still rubbing his eyes. 'Dang your eyes are that sensitive?' I thought while kneeling down and cupping my hands together. "We're gonna do the same as in the maze except this time I'm going to throw you up and you jump, got it?" He nodded and put his foot in my hands. I lifted up and he jumped, just making it to the staircase and pulled himself up. "Get the hookshot and throw it down to me." he nodded and pulled it out of the tree.

"How did that even happen?" Navi asked from beside me as Link threw it down.

"Ow!" I yelled since it landed on my head. "It kinda slipped out of my hand." I said sheepishly as I rubbed where the hookshot hit me. Navi slapped her head with her hand and drug it down her face. "Hey don't hit your head at me." I said pointing at her. "That was my first time using it."

"You can see me? I mean as in my body?" she asked somewhat surprised.

"Kinda." I said simply as I aimed the hookshot at the tree again and shot it off. "Just a blue body, long hair, and light is all I can make out. Wahoo!" I cried as I shot up to the branch. I pulled the hookshot out by pushing against the branch and landed right beside Link. I handed it to him and we walked through an opening in the wall and into the clearing with the door to the Forest Temple. We walked forward a bit but two wolfos popped out of the ground with a howl and charged for us. Link drew his sword and shield while I just drew the Kokiri sword to keep my left hand free incase I needed to keep their jaws away from me.

The first werewolf creature went after Link and collided with his shield. The second came after me with its left claw outstretched, ready to tear through me. I held my sword out and the blade stopped the wolfos' attack at its wrist. It growled as the blade dug into its arm and brought its right claw up while it put pressure on the one pressed against my sword. I brought my left hand up and luckily caught it by the wrist but struggled to keep it away. It growled again at its failed attack and brought its head back in an attempt to bite me. I rammed my shoulder into its throat to stun it as well as to keep it from snacking on me. Unfortunately, this left me unable to do anything except for push against it or else I'd lose my balance, but at least the same went for the wolfos.

While this was happening Link was keeping his shield up and waiting for his wolfos to swing hard enough to spin itself around. With its back turned Link quickly let out a barrage of slashes into it, making it cry out in pain. It whipped around and brought up its arms, blocking the rest of his hits easily. It lunged at Link after his onslaught but he quickly brought up his shield and kept the beast at bay. It swung its claws at Link when he dropped his guard but he jumped back before its attack could connect. With its back turned again, Link finished it off with a few more swipes. He looked over at me and noticed my little stalemate.

'Gotta love all that conditioning I did at the fire station back home.' I thought with a grunt. 'I'd probably be dog food right now and it looks like I've got a little more stamina than wolfy here.' I could feel the pressure on me weakening and I took the chance to ram it against the tree that was closest to me in the little clearing. With it stunned I threw it down and started slashing its back relentlessly. It let out a final shriek and stopped moving only to disappear in a plume of blue fire like the other one. I let out a breath of relief and shot a victorious grin over to Link. He nodded with a smile and climbed up the vines that dangled down the walls to get on top of the trees. He jumped over to another tree and opened up the small treasure chest that was up there. He pulled out a small key, jumped down, and we walked through the door to officially enter the Forest Temple.

We walked into the first hallway and a giant skulltulla dropped down from the ceiling in front of us. I jumped back in surprise but Link simply pulled out the hookshot and fired it at the overgrown spider. We then walked past its blue burning corpse and walked into the main room. In the middle of the large room was an elevator surrounded by four torches with each a different color. One red, one green, one blue, and one purple. When we took a few steps forward, the flames disappeared and in there place a ghost of the same color formed. They each held a torch and a flame of their color appeared on it. They looked at us and then went in four different directions through four different doors making the elevator drop.

"Okaaaay. Creepyyyyy." I said walking down the stairs to the inaccessible elevator. "Looks like we gotta get the fire back from those poes. Wanna split up to cover more ground faster?" Link nodded and went off to the corner with a time block. I went through the door that was straight ahead and was greeted by a flying, purple flaming skull. It was floating in circles in the middle of the narrow hallway and giving off an evil cackle. I moved forward slowly but it only stayed in the same general area. Seeing as it wasn't going anywhere else I simply walked passed it when there was enough space between it and the wall and went through the door at the end. I walked forward and two skeleton warriors with swords and shields appeared out of the ground

"Shit, Stalfos." I muttered backing up to the door only to feel cold steel bars. "Shit!" They both did a jump slash but I dove forward and rolled to the center of the relatively small room. "Not good, not good!" I said with growing panic as I drew my weapons. They both let out a deep, creepy laugh as they sized me up. They looked at each other and nodded. One circled around me and was at my back while the other stayed in front of me. I turned sideways a bit so I could quickly look from one to the other. They both charged at me at the same time with their red wavy swords outstretched in hopes of stabbing me. Not wanting to be a human shish kebab, I dove to the side and watched as the two skeletons impaled each other, one in the head and the other in the chest. The one that was stabbed in the chest simply stumbled back a bit and wrenched its sword, and its partner's head, from the others body.

I laughed at the sight of the skeleton flailing its arms around in search for its head, granted it was a warrior that was about to turn me into a pin cushion a few seconds ago, but that made it even funnier. The one with its head still on frantically tried to remove the head from its sword. It finally succeeded but part of the skull was missing. The headless stalfos snatched its head back and placed it back on its shoulders. I was on my knees laughing from the way its crooked face looked. It glared at its partner and attacked it. Both me and the second stalfos where shocked at the sudden turn of events but I was happy about it. At first it looked more like a competitive spar but quickly escalated to an all out destroy or be destroyed battle. They were so occupied with parrying, blocking, dodging, and slashing at each other that they completely forgot about me.

The one with the crooked head raised its arms in victory over its once companion and I took the opportunity to sneak up behind it and yank its head off. It flailed around like earlier except a little more slowly due to its recent fight. I backed up so as not to get hit by a random slash and threw the skull as hard as I could to the wall, sending bone fragments everywhere. The body of the stalfos simply dropped to the ground and disappeared in blue flames. After it was completely gone, the steel bars in front of the door went up so I could leave the room.

"Cool." I chuckled but jumped back when golden sparkles circled around the center of the room. A small treasure chest appeared when the golden ring vanished and I walked over to claim the small key inside and slipped it into my pocket. I walked through the door and passed the flaming skull that still stayed in that same area as before and went into the main room of the temple. I saw Link climbing up a small ledge and walk to a locked door.

"Hey Link, find anything?" I asked as I climbed up behind him. He nodded and held out another small key and used it to unlock the door. "So that means we have two keys, I found one in that room but nothing else." We walked through and were greeted by yet another Purple Bubble as Navi called them. I let my guard down when I saw it charge at me but Link quickly jumped in front of me and blocked it with his shield, knocking the skull to the ground and extinguishing the flame. I held my hand out to stop Link from finishing it off and I backed up a little. I watched the skull bounce on the ground a second so I could get the timing right. Seeing my chance I ran forward and punted the creepy thing between two stone pillars and into the wall making it shatter.

"It's good!" I called while holding both of my arms straight up. Navi just looked at me like I was crazy and Link just laughed. "Right, let's go shall we?" I said as we walked forward and pushed a large green block that blocked our path. After a good ten minutes of pushing it, we climbed a ladder and reached a red block. After another ten minutes, we managed to move the red block through the stupid maze and we climbed up another ladder and walked into a room with two purple bubbles flying around. They came after us but I hid behind Link while he took out their flames with his shield. He did a jump stab on one while my boot became close friends with the other one. After taking care of the annoying skulls, we walked to the door that was chained and locked up tight. Good thing for us we happen to have a few keys left. Link unlocked it while I looked at the strange silver diamond with an eyeball above the door.

We opened the door to find a literally twisted corridor. Link walked on ahead and when he was at the end, he looked like he was walking on the wall from where I was. I decided not to question how this worked to save myself a headache and cautiously walked down the corridor. We came to a room that had a few doors on the walls and a few doors on the ceiling. I went ahead and jumped to the stone pillar that was in the middle of the room but stopped when Navi spoke up.

"Listen!" she yelled as she flew in front of Link's face, stopping him from jumping to my pillar. "Watch for the shadow monsters that hang from the ceiling."

"Shadow monsters?" I asked looking up and seeing nothing but darkness. "A lot of good that'll do with a black ceiling." Link yelled at me like he would when he did one of his attacks. I looked behind me but saw nothing. Then I remembered what 'from the ceiling' meant. I looked down and saw a large dark circle under me. "Son of a- oof!" I stopped when a large hand slammed down on me and pinned me to the ground. Before Link could do anything it carried me up and

out of his reach towards the dark ceiling. I quickly dug into my pocket and threw my key down to him. "Go on I'll catch up!" I yelled as darkness surrounded me.

~ sc ~

I opened my eyes and found myself laying no the ground just outside of the Forest Temple door. Once I stood up the howl of two wolfos rang in my ears. I looked up and saw the two wolfos that Link and I took care of when we first got here running towards me.

"What the hell?" I asked as I jumped back from the first one's claws and just barely dodge the second one's by diving to the side. I quickly rolled to my feet but got a claw to my left arm as I ran straight for the door to the temple. I slammed it behind me and killed the large skulltulla that dropped down in the main hallway. I walked into the main room and noticed that the red, blue, and green torches where already lit. "Huh, either I've been out for a while or lighting the torches takes less time than I thought, or maybe even both. Ah well, I'll just wait here for Link." I said aloud as I sat down on the stairs. "This place is really creepy when you're here alone."

I heard something wiz by my ear so I dove to the side and looked around frantically. I didn't see anything but cautiously walked to the middle of the room. Something near the red flame caught my eye but darkness and a sudden increase in weight knocked me to the ground. I brought my hands up to feel what was blocking my sight and felt a body.

"...Get off." I said calmly as Link quickly got off and helped me up. He gave an apologetic smile and I just sighed. Evil cackling that sounded like an old woman rang throughout the foyer and we quickly drew our swords and jumped back to back. The purple poe appeared out of the unlit torch and split into four copies which quickly surrounded us. Link lunged out at one but all of them simultaneously moved back.

"We'll have to shoot them." I said as I ran to the center of the room with Link right behind me. "She'll just keep moving back if we try to slash her. Do you have anything to shoot her with?" Link nodded and pulled out the fairy bow. Link shot at the first one that came into his sight but his arrow sailed right through it. "Link that one!" I yelled pointing to the one that spun around for no reason. Link notched another arrow and lined it up with the ghost. He let the string loose and the arrow soared through the air, completely missing the real ghost. They all disappeared and the real one appeared right in front of us. It spun around wildly and hit us both with its torch. We grunted in pain and slashed at the poe but she disappeared before we could make contact.

"I'll shoot, you slash." I said as I held my hand out after I patted out an ember on my shirt. Link nodded and gave me his bow and an arrow. I notched it and watched the four poes as they began circling us again. Link tapped my shoulder and pointed to the one that spun around. I quickly aimed at it and fired the arrow, nailing her in the forehead, or what would've been her forehead. Before Link could slash her, the poe quickly disappeared and began circling us again with three clones. We stood back to back and watched for the real one, Link pointing out the one on his side and me watching mine. I hit the real one a few more times before it finally burst into purple flames. The final torch lit with purple fire and the elevator that we happen to be standing on lifted out of the ground so we could get in it.

"Who do you think Sheik wanted to warn us about?" Navi asked suddenly as we boarded the elevator. "I've been thinking about who it could be but I didn't notice anyone suspicious back in Kakariko."

'That explains the pleasant silence.' I thought with a grin. "Probably me." I chuckled as we began to descend. "I don't exactly fit in with the crowd. Not to mention I noticed a few glares sent my way while we were leaving."

We rode the small elevator to the lower level and reached a circular room where we had to rotate the wall. We did so until the opening in the wall lead to a large green and golden treasure chest. Link went to it and retrieved a large key with an emerald at the edge.

'Funny, thought it was suppose to have a red gem on it. Guess it goes with the temple.' I thought as I pushed the pillar connected to the wall once Link came back. The opening then lead to a hallway with a door at the end of it. We walked to it and Link unlocked it with the boss key we just found. We walked into a large dark room and made our way up the stairs that lead to a large platform surrounded by pointy guard rails connected by ropes. In the center of the platform was a large rug with the triforce on it. We walked into the center of the platform and looked around. Nothing was really interesting besides the six large duplicate pictures on the surrounding walls. Not really caring about them I went to leave but spikes shot up from where we entered, preventing us from going back the way we came.

"Ganondorf?" I yelled in shock when he appeared out of nowhere. Ganondorf let out an evil laugh as he floated down from the ceiling a top his horse. When the horse spotted me its eyes flashed bright red as it hooved the ground and snorted steam. "Heh heh, hi Snuggles. No hard feelings about that incident back then right?" I chuckled nervously. It would've charged at me had Ganondorf not pulled on the reigns to make it rear back. Ganondorf pulled off his face to reveal a skull with yellow glowing eyes and blue fire surrounding it. He also pulled a trident out of the air and made his horse float up and run into one of the pictures.

"Okay Link, same as with the last poe." I said as we went back to back and watched the pictures. Link tapped my shoulder when he saw him running down the path in the picture but I saw the same thing in a different picture. I pulled the arrow back that Link gave me and aimed for my picture only to see him run back up the path. I looked on in confusion until Link turned me towards his picture and I fired once I saw Phantom Ganondorf start coming out of the picture. I hit him and he quickly retreated into the picture and back up the path. We repeated the same actions over until Phantom abandoned Snuggles and started floating on his own and fired off a lightning ball at us. Me being his target I went to hit it back but got the full shock of the attack just like when I was fighting the real Ganondorf.

"Dammit." I growled as I stood back up from my knees. "Link you've got to take care of him, the master sword can knock his attack back." Link nodded and stood in front of me so as to keep me from being targeted again. Phantom let loose another lightning ball but Link hit it back with his sword. Phantom hit it back and so began their game of lightning tennis. "Woo, Phantom! Over here!" I yelled in order to distract him from his concentration. He looked over at me and got hit by his own reflected attack. The lightning stunned him enough to make him fall to our level and gave us the chance to wail on him with our swords. He yelled in pain and frustration as he swung his lance to knock us back. Luckily both of us managed to jump back in time and avoided a nasty slash. Taking his chance, Phantom floated back into the air and out of our reach. They went through the same routine of hitting the ball back and me distracting until it came to attack Phantom again.

Link got hit from the lightning a few times because he was busy laughing at me trying to distract Phantom but we were doing pretty well overall. Running out of ideas, I dropped my pants a little and mooned Phantom. That turned out to be a bad thing since Link busted out laughing and kept getting hit by Phantom's was close to collapsing and could hardly swing his sword from all the electric balls but still couldn't stop laughing.

"Damn your kid mind Link!" I yelled as I took his shield from him and blocked the oncoming ball. Once the magic hit the shield I could feel some of the electricity travel throughout my body. "Here." I said digging in my pocket and giving him the bottle with a fairy inside. I blocked another attack but the surge felt a little stronger. Link uncorked the bottle and the fairy circled around him, magically healing all of his wounds. The pink orb then floated over to me making me think it was going to heal me too. To my surprise it flew up to my face and I felt a tiny hand smack my cheek. "Ow." I said as I rubbed my cheek even though it didn't really hurt and watched as the fairy quickly flew off. I felt another surge of lightning and snapped out of my small surprise.

"Link go!" I shouted to the now fully restored Hero of Time. He took his place in front of me and went back to playing lightning tennis. I jumped in front of Link every now and then when he had a random laugh attack. "Link focus! We can't get to Saria unless we kill this guy!" I yelled growing agitated. Link stopped laughing then and there with a serious look on his face. He knocked back every single ball that Phantom shot our way and we let out a final barrage of attacks when he was stunned again. He let out a loud cry of pain and floated to the center of the platform, dropping his trident in the process.

"Heh, you've improved a bit over these years kid. Don't go celebrating just yet. You have only succeeded in defeating my phantom so it was nowhere near as powerful as me. Even IF you managed to make it to me, you'd stand no chance." Phantom cackled as he became engulfed in blue fire. "And you," he said referring to me, "You will pay for your treachery!"

"Up yours Mr. High and Mighty!" I yelled sarcastically as the rest of Phantom's body burned away. Once he was gone, a blue ring appeared in the middle of the floor with blue rays shining up. "Well, you'll probably find the Forest Sage if you go in there." I said as I gave Link his shield and bow back. I started walking to the exit of the platform since the spikes receded back into the floor. He caught my attention by calling out to me. I looked his way and saw him point to me then to the portal. "Nah, the last time I was teleported didn't turn out too well. I'll take the long way and meet you in Kokiri Forest." he nodded and went into the portal while I walked back to the elevator. I went up to the foyer and walked out through the doors and onto the broken staircase in the Sacred Forest Meadow.

* * *

The Forest Temple is done along with a good amount of words. I don't plan on making too many chapters this long but we'll see how it turns out. Hopefully this chapter turned out alright and am glad if you liked it.

Gimme a review on how I'm doing, you might feel better for making me happy!


	6. Old but Recent Friends

This chapter turned out longer than i expected but it should be pretty good, at least I hope it does. Just wish I knew what others thought about it.I'm almost on a 100 hits to 1 review ratio. *sniff* No, *sniff* I won't cry! I will press on!

Anyway we meet some old friends! That being said... ENJOY!

* * *

"Die Phantom!" I heard a muffled voice yell from behind me. I quickly turned around to see the blue and white ninja from before collide with me. I stumbled back and instinctively reached out for anything to stop myself from falling off the broken stairs. I grabbed Sheik's arm but instead of him stopping me, he ended up falling with me. I landed on the ground with a thud and the air was knocked out of my lungs. Despite my inability to breathe at the moment, I threw him off of me and rolled over to my hands and knees in hopes of getting my air back.

"Tell me," I gasped, "what the HELL was that for?" He simply glared at me from the ground as I slowly got to my feet. "If that was for intruding on your duet with Link then I'm sorry, but don't you think that was going a little overboard?" I asked as I caught my breath. "I mean that could've freakin killed me!"

"That was my intention. It's what you deserve for all that you've done!" He growled as he got to his feet and charged at me.

"All I've done?" I asked as I ducked under a kick aimed for my head. "If anything I should be thanked for helping Link with this place!" I yelled after I jumped back from his follow-up kick.

"Ha, you may have fooled him but you won't fool me." he said as he charged for me again. He feigned a kick to my head and kicked me in the jaw with his other leg when I ducked down. I stumbled back and held my jaw to make sure it was still intact.

"What are you talking about? Fooled him how?" I asked as I put up a defensive stance. I kept my weapons sheathed since I knew I'd be a little hesitant to attack an unarmed person. Granted he was doing fine on his own without a weapon, but I also didn't want to risk having mine turned against me. "All I've done so far is help him and Zel-"

"Shut up!" he yelled suddenly. "Don't you dare even suggest that you were him!" He charged at me again and aimed a jab for my stomach. I knocked his arm to the side to throw him off balance and brought my knee hard into his gut. At least that's where I was aiming but I happened to hit a little lower than I intended. He stumbled back a little and I ran forward to give a strong punch to his face. He jumped out of my reach just in time and pulled out a silver, whip-like chain and swung it around. I went to jump back after I recovered from my miss but the edge of the chain managed to catch my left cheek. I growled in frustration and from the small sting that came from my cut.

"So you bleed now." he said thoughtfully as I wiped my cheek. "Good, I can finally rid you of this land ."

"Seriously, what are you talking about?" I asked completely confused. "Suggest I'm who?" I hung back a bit to keep myself out of range as he swung the chain around expertly. 'I can't do anything as long as that whip keeps whirling around.' I thought as I watched it carefully. 'That's it!' I lunged forward when the chain moved away and brought up my left arm when it came back. Just like I hoped, the chain wrapped around my forearm guard and I grabbed the chain with my left hand. Sheik's eye widened in shock when I roughly pulled him towards me and planted a strong right punch on his face. He stumbled back and let go of the chain from the force. Taking my chance, I ran forward and tackled him.

"Why are you attacking me?" I demanded as I pinned his hands to the ground. "What have I done that has made you want to kill me?"

"Your presence alone is enough reason for me to destroy you." the ninja said as he slipped one of his hands out of my grasp. He reached into a hidden pocket and pulled out a deku nut. He slammed his hand that had the deku nut into my forehead and caused it to go off.

"Gah!" I let out as my eyes took in the full flash. With me stunned from the sudden light, Sheik quickly crawled out from under me. The next thing I know is a small tug on my shoulder and the faint ring of metal beside my ear. I quickly got to my feet and backed up since he had just unsheathed the Kokiri sword.

"What puzzles me is how you became such a detailed form. You have the same characteristics, voice, and body as in those cherished memories. Yet you taint and tarnish them just by your existence." he said from the white field that filled my vision.

"You're not making any sense!" I yelled but tripped on a tree root that just happened to be in my way. Before I could get back up, Sheik was straddling my chest and pinned my arms against me with his legs. "Get off!" I growled as my vision started to slowly come back. My eyes widened when I saw his blurry figure raise my sword over his head with the tip pointed down at me.

"Begone abomination!" he yelled as he plunged the sword down towards me. Just as he did this, I bucked my hips and threw him off balance enough for him to just miss my face. With him leaning forward, I bucked up again and managed to free my left arm. Sheik had pulled the sword out of the ground and was about to try to stab me again, but I grabbed the bottom of his muffler and roughly pulled him down. At the same time, I launched my head forward and collided with his. With him dazed I shoved him to the left and I rolled to the right. "Typical for Ganondorf's minions to use such dirty tactics." he growled as he rubbed his head.

"Says the ninja who slams a deku nut into my face." I shot back as I wiped away a little blood from my eyebrow. "And for the record, I have nothing to do with Ganondorf." I said with a glare as I got up. "Come to think of it, how do I know that you're not some Gerudo in disguise trying to throw us off? You've got some of the skin tone and all I can see is one of your eyes."

"You dare accuse me to have an allegiance with that tyrant?" he asked angrily as he got up and gripped my sword tightly. "You've got some nerve. First you torment her and now you insult me? If I hadn't promised to end you quickly then you would be in so much pain right now."

"Make sense for once!" I yelled in frustration. "Who is this 'her' and how have I tormented whoever you're talking about?"

"The less you know the better." he simply said as he rushed towards me with the blade by his side and pointing towards me. I readied myself to knock his arm to the side when he went to stab me but he disappeared in a puff of smoke three feet away from me.

"What?" I asked in surprise. I quickly turned around with my fist outstretched and felt myself collide with something. The back of my fist had slammed right in the side of Sheik's face and caused him to stumble to the side and collapse on the ground. "They come from behind almost every time." I said with a smirk as I shook the pain out of my hand from hitting him so hard. I cautiously walked over to his motionless body. I kicked my sword out of his hand and pushed him over onto his back with my foot. I looked at his closed eye and let out a long sigh while slowly shaking my head. I unraveled the chain that was still wrapped around my left arm and flipped Sheik onto his stomach.

"I just know this is going to come back and bite me in the ass." I said aloud as I bound his hands together behind his back with the chain. "You're lucky that I'm a nice guy or else I'd probably leave you here like this." I was about to throw him over my shoulder but stopped when I noticed something peculiar about him. I turned him on his back again and examined his figure for a moment.

"You're way to curvy to be a man." I said as I kneeled down and put my hand against his chest. It was firm yet soft at the same time and stuck out a little more than a man's should. With the curves added, I could only come to one conclusion. "At least I didn't notice when we were fighting. I probably would've hesitated a little with that back-fist had I known you were a woman." I shook my head as I picked her up and put her on my shoulder. "I wish all the people I had to carry were as light as you but whatever." I said as I picked up my sword and walked to the long passage that lead to the maze. As I got closer, I could feel the ground shake every few seconds.

"Whoopdee-freakin-do." I said sarcastically as I saw the giant moblin slamming his club against the ground like a happy hulk. I watched him for a moment and remembered the pattern he sent the shockwaves along the ground. 'Left, right, left, right, left, right.' I thought as I side-stepped the dust clouds as they came my way. When I made it to the giant moblin, he turned sideways and held his club like he would if he was playing golf. He gave me a large toothy grin and pulled his club back for the swing.

"Oh geez!." I yelled as the club came my way. I quickly dove to the wall that he was against and felt a strong gust of air as his weapon just missed me. I quickly but lightly put Sheik down and unleashed a barrage of slashes on the creature's leg. Soon after he let out a pained cry and collapsed before disappearing in a plume of blue fire. I walked over to the ninja, sheathed my sword, and put her back on my shoulder. I walked down the rest of the passage but stopped when I heard heavy footsteps echo off of the maze walls. Not wanting an incident like last time, I peeked my head around a corner and saw the back of one of the spear moblins. To my surprise, it was leaning heavily on its spear and was nodding its head every few seconds.

"Is it asleep?" I asked out loud making its head pop up and look around frantically. It looked my way and I quickly brought my head back around. I waited a moment and peeked around the corner again. What I saw almost made me scream like a little girl. The moblin had snuck up to the passage and crouched down to where its face was level with mine and let out a roar when it saw me. It readied its spear and charged towards me. I brought my head back in and watched as the human-pig thing rushed passed me and slammed into the wall further down.

"Not the brightest of the bunch are ya?" I laughed as I saw it trying to free its spear from the wall. I ran to the ladder and quickly climbed up on top of the maze. I made my way to the secluded spot in the maze and shifted Sheik so she was now in my arms. I dropped down into the area and then dropped down into the fairy fountian.

"Fly away!" I heard a chorus of fairies scream when I made it to the water's edge. I looked up with a confused expression and saw a clutter of fairies huddled against the far wall. "I-it's him!" one stuttered fearfully.

'What did I do to make them so scared?' I thought to myself as I gently set Sheik down on the stone walkway.

"He's the one who took one of the fairies away!" another one yelled.

'Oh, that. I guess it's not normal for someone to pay a visit and borrow a fairy from the fairy fountain.' I was brought out of my thoughts when I noticed Sheik starting to come to. I took that as my cue to leave since I didn't feel like having another scuffle with her. 'Just my luck.' I thought, annoyed that I couldn't get healed and walked onto the rainbow plate. A magic force pulled me out of the fountain and I landed beside the hole in the ground. I climbed up onto the maze and made my way towards the lost woods. I jumped off of the maze and went through a wooden tunnel to start my search for the Kokiri village. After a few minutes of walking, I passed by the 'gatekeeper' Mido and stopped in the clearing.

"Hey kid." I called to him. "Do you think you can take me to your village?"

"No, I've got to protect the Forest Temple from invaders." he said while crossing his arms.

"Ooof course you do." I sighed and walked on. 'Damn, I hope I can make it out of here.'

~ sc ~

"Come on! Get up, get up!" a high pitched voice rang out through the fairy fountain that Sheik was just waking up in. "We need to hurry, he may get lost and turn into a stalfos!"

"What are you talking about?" Sheik asked groggily as she sat up. "Who may get lost?"

"That man that carried you in here." a little fairy said. "He protected you from those moblins and carried you in here so you'd be safe."

"What man?" Sheik asked confused.

"The man you attacked!" the fairy screamed in frustration. "After he knocked you out he brought you here!"

"That was no man." the ninja growled. "That was an imposter made by Ganondorf to plague the minds of those close to the one he was impersonating."

"If he was made by Ganondorf why didn't he kill you or take you prisoner?" the orange fairy asked. Sheik grew silent and started fiddling with her restraint.

"Why would he restrain me IF he was who you say he is?" she shot back after trying to untie the chain for a few moments.

"Why else?" the floating orb asked as if the answer was obvious, which it kinda was. "To keep you from attacking him again if you woke up while on his back." The ninja grew silent again and went back to concentrating on getting the chain undone. "Oh let me." the fairy sighed as she flew to the chain and started to untangle the chain. "One thing's for sure, he's good with knots." After a few minutes, Sheik's restraint fell to the floor in a heap.

"Thanks" she muttered as she rubbed her wrists where the chain had dug in.

"Now let's go help him!" the fairy said as she grabbed one of Sheik's fingers and tugged in the direction of the rainbow plate.

~ sc ~

"This... SUCKS!" I yelled in frustration as I sliced another tally mark in the same tree for the thirteenth time. The only upside I could make out of my situation was that I found a saw in a bush when I tripped during my seventh time that I was lost. Luckily it had a belt clip on it so I didn't have to worry about cutting a hole in any of my pockets.

After a while, I resorted to breaking off branches from trees and sticking them in the ground to show where I've been. Only problem with that is when I came back to them, I found them trampled in the ground by something. I decided that I would find out what was doing this once and for all. I broke off a few more branches and placed them in the ground so they pointed in all sorts of directions. I walked off a little ways and hid in a bush while watching the spot carefully. A minute passed and the bushes by the sticks started rustling. A deku scrub, which seemed eerily familiar, slowly walked out and looked around carefully as if looking out for something. My eyes widened when I saw it walk over to my sticks and start stomping them into the ground.

"Oh hell no!" I yelled as I ran towards it. It shot its head up and ran off once it spotted me."Get back here you no good piece of firewood!" The wooden ball with legs ran through multiple clearings and I was hot on its tail.

"Watch out!" I heard a high pitched voice call. I looked around but fell to the ground when I felt a sharp pain in my right leg as darts had just dug into me.

"Aaah!" I let out through clenched teeth as I looked around for my assailant. A kid in orange and yellow clothes you'd see on a scarecrow jumped out of a tree and landed on the opposite side of the clearing I was in. It also had an orange witch-like hat with the brim partially coving its black face. It glared at me with red eyes and brought its flute to its beak-like mouth. I quickly grabbed my sword and threw it straight at the skull kid and hit it right in the face. A smile made its way on my face when it fell. That smile quickly dropped when it got back up since only the handle hit it..

"Oooh crap!" I yelled when it took in a big breath. Right as its lips touched the flute, a few needles came out of nowhere and knocked its flute to the side. The darts that flew out grazed my cheek a bit but didn't do any major damage. Again out of nowhere a person in skin-tight, blue and white clothes charged at the skull kid. Sheik planted a strong kick right in its face making it stumble back a good bit. It stared at Sheik and then to me before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

"Great, I just knew you'd come back and try to finish me off." I muttered.

"Your welcome." she said coldly.

"Uh, wha-... thanks." I said looking away and looked at the darts sticking out of my now numb leg due to some sort of numbing serum. I pulled them out with a grunt and looked back up at the ninja.

"Now we're even." she continued and walked over to my sword.

"So I'm guessing you going to finish what you started back at the Forest Temple?" I asked as I narrowed my eyes at her when she picked my blade up.

"No, I'd be going against a dear friend's wishes if I did that." she said as she tossed my sword beside me.

"Oooh anyone I know?" I asked sarcastically earning myself a glare.

"I don't know, do you?" she practically hissed.

"Okay break it up you two." an orange orb said as it flew in between us.

"T-Tangi?" I asked in surprise.

"Ha! I told you he'd say that!" the fairy cried happily as she turned towards Sheik. Sheik merely huffed and crossed her arms.

"Only because he's using his memories." she muttered still unconvinced. I just gave off a confused, questioning look.

"Could someone please tell me what the heck she's talking about?" I asked to whoever was listening.

"He doesn't even act like him Angi." the ninja said as she looked at the fairy.

"Well that might have to do with the fact that you twied to kewl me." I slurred since part of my face had gone numb. "Oh thum on!" Angi just giggled at my predicament.

"He has a point you know. No one was trying to kill him back then." Angi said as she fluttered over and landed on my shoulder. Since I wasn't going anywhere soon, I maneuvered myself so I was sitting with my numb leg stretched out and was resting my arm on my left knee. "See? He's not attacking me or trying to hurt me."

"Why would I do dat?" I asked looking over to her as she sat down. "Ith not like I would hurt you on purpoth." Sheik's glare softened a little but she was still staring hard at me.

"You see? He's still the same old person." Angi said happily as she patted my cheek. I winced since she just happened to touch the cut I received from the chain. "Oops."

"Tho you think I'm impersonating mythelf?" I slurred again. "That's stupid. That means you two are impersonating yourthelves too."

"Just look at him Angi. How can he look the same from seven years ago?" Sheik asked the fairy but Angi couldn't think of an answer.

"I... don't know." the fairy said as she slowly stood up on my shoulder.

"You where there when Ganondorf attacked him. You saw, with your own eyes, that nothing was left from that tyrant's attack." the ninja said as she looked away from me. "Yet here this impersonator is, looking and sounding exactly like the very man who sacrificed himself to save Princess Zelda." She pulled out a handful of needles and sent another glare my way.

"Wait, wait!" I cried frantically. "Can I get a chance to pwove I'm weal?" Sheik paused in her stance and watched me carefully. I quickly took off my necklace and held it out to her. "Could Ganondorf copy this as well?" Sheik dropped her needles and eyes grew wide when she saw the royal family crest.

"Could it really be?" she whispered as she slowly walked over to me. "Josh?" she asked in surprise.

"The one and onwy." I said with an awkward smile since part of my face wasn't responding. I was happy that she wasn't going to attempt to kill me now, at least I hoped she wouldn't.

"So her prayers where answered after all." she said somewhat happily.

"I told you!" Angi cried cheerfully as she flew around us. "It's always good to be hopeful."

"Well I'm happy that we're all happy, but I want to get out of here before Link comes looking for me and gets lost himself." I said as I crawled over to a tree to help myself up after I sheathed the Kokiri sword. "Think you can guide me Tangi?" I asked once I got up. My face was finally getting feeling back and I could talk normally again.

"Of course! Follow me!" she shouted as she wizzed off.

"Wait Tangi!" I called as I went to run after her but fell since my leg was still numb. I crawled forward a bit but felt someone pick me up to my feet. I looked to my right and saw Sheik putting my arm over her shoulders. "You go from trying to kill me to helping me walk?" I asked as she helped me hobble after our guide.

"...Sorry." she said sadly as we made our way through the woods in silence.

"Soooo," Tangi said after a while of walking. " how was your first encounter with Sheik?"

"Eventful. It's not everyday a woman comes from behind you and knocks you off a flight of stairs." I said with a shrug.

"How did you know I was a woman?" the ninja asked.

"Uh." I started, trying to think of a way that didn't make me sound like some pervert. Saying something like 'I felt you while you were out' isn't something you want to say to the person that was trying to kill you earlier. "Your eye." She raised the eyebrow of said eye questioningly. "It's uh, constructed, you could say, differently than Link's."

"You mean when you were feeling her while she was out cold?" Angi asked innocently.

"I wasn't feeling her." I said as I looked her way. "I was-" I was cut off by gravity pulling my face into the ground. I turned over and looked up to see Sheik glaring at me.

"What did you do to me?" she asked in a dangerous voice.

"Just tied you up and carried you to the fairy fountain." I said waving my arms in front of me defensively.

"And felt you." Angi added.

"Not helping Tangi!" I yelled as Sheik grabbed my shirt and pulled my face closer to hers.

"What did you do?" she asked again while staring into my eyes.

"I just looked you over and felt your chest, then carried you to the fountain." I said growing worried. "Man that sounded a lot more innocent in my head." I muttered.

"...If you say so." she said as she let go of my shirt and helped me back up.

"If you'd be so kind as to guide us Tangi" I said awkwardly. Angi nodded and flew off with us following her

~ sc ~

Without all of the monsters, Kokiri Forest was a beautiful and peaceful place. The kids were now out and had already gone back to their normal lives.

"Wow, it didn't wait to go back to normal did it?" I asked as I watched the children play in the open. "You wouldn't think that there was a monster infestation here a little while ago." I said as I got off of Sheik since I could finally feel my leg again.

"Yes, with the evil of the temple destroyed and the forest sage now awakened, life can continue peacefully." Sheik said as she watched the children play as if nothing happened.

"I take it you'll be leaving now?" I asked as I turned to her. She nodded and started to back away. "Wait, give this to Zelda. She probably wants it back." I said as I took off the necklace Zelda gave me and held it out.

"No." she said as she closed my hand around it with hers. "She'd want you to keep it. She gave it to you so you'd be safe remember?" I nodded and noticed that the necklace felt a little warmer than usual. Then again I forgot I was wearing it most of the time.

"Wait, how did you know that?" I asked suspiciously.

"Zelda told me a lot about you." Sheik said simply.

"Not much to say really." I said with a shrug as I took my hand back and put the necklace back on. "By the way," I crossed my arms and looked straight at her, " you never answered my questions."

"Questions?" she asked, not remembering.

"About why you were attacking me or who I was tormenting." I said with a hint of annoyance. "Apparently I was shot seven years through time so I couldn't have done any harm to anyone."

"No, you yourself didn't cause any harm," she let out a small sigh and closed her eyes as if remembering past events, "but Ganodorf found a way to manipulate your figure into an evil being."

"So someone, or something, was running around and causing trouble?" I asked, a grin tugging at my lips at the thought of a group of me pulling off pranks. "Well its not like people think I destroyed castle town right?" I chuckled but she didn't say anything. Her silence got a bit of worry to go through me. "Right?"

"Not was, is. That's why I attacked you." she stated apologetically. "I thought you were it."

"That still doesn't explain the 'why'." I said with a sigh. "What all has it done? What blame do I have to worry about?"

"A little of everything I'm afraid." she said. "It is a servant of the Evil King and was with him occasionally so the citizens of Hyrule may think that you are the creature."

"Yaaay, I unintentionally brought chaos to this land. And on top of that, everyone's probably gonna think I'm this servant of Ganondorf's." I said sarcastically.

"You mustn't blame yourself, it was out of your control." Sheik said comfortingly, apparently not catching the sarcasm. "It's because of you that Princess Zelda has been safe for all of these years.

"Well tell her guards to keep up the good work." I said throwing on a smile. "Can't have her being captured now can we?" She looked away at the mention of guards. "What no royal guard?"

"The only guards that are left that can help are you, me, Link, Impa, and the Kakariko Militia." She stated as I made the silent 'oh' face. "Unfortunately the militia has their hands full at the moment."

"What some monster outbreak or something?" I asked.

"In a way. Strong tremors have recently been coming from Death Mountain so Kakariko Village was evacuated for safety." Sheik stated as a confused expression made it on my face.

'That's... different.' I thought. "How long were we in the temple?" I asked curiously. "The last time I checked Kakariko looked like it didn't have a care in the world."

"You've been in there for about two days." Sheik said.

"What?" I asked in surprise. "No way, it only felt like a few hours at most."

"You where out most of the time remember?" Angi asked from beside me. "When that Wall Master pulled you into the darkness you went unconscious."

"Oh..." I said plainly. "Wait how'd you know it got me?"

"I was following you ever since you left the fairy fountain after you fairy-napped that fairy." she said as she crossed her arms and flew closer to me.

"That wasn't fairy-napping, it was... borrowing a fairy in case something bad happened and it just so happen that Link almost died so it's a good thing I did bring it with me."

"Well you caused it to happen." the orange orb said. "You made him laugh like that."

"Okay I admit that mooning the phantom of Ganondorf was a bad idea," Sheik's shoulders started shaking, "but I was running out of ideas in order to distract him. I couldn't do anything else so it was worth a shot."

"But showing your butt of all things?" the fairy asked.

"It worked didn't it?" I asked defensively. "We made it through alive so we can forget about all that happened through the temple. Anyway is there anything else I need to worry about Sheik?" I asked looking back at the ninja.

"Nothing that you can't handle." she said with a hint of laughter.

"Heh let's hope so." I chuckled as I started to walk towards the Kokiri children.

"Josh," Sheik called stopping me, "be careful, for Zelda. She wouldn't want her best friend to get hurt."

"Best friend?" I asked as I turned towards her but was met with a bright flash. When it dispersed the ninja was nowhere in sight. I looked at my fairy questioningly as we made our way to the village to search for Link.

"Back when we were searching for Impa, Zelda said that you were the first person to treat her like a normal girl." Angi explained as we walked through the village. "You were the only person, other than Impa, that she could have fun and feel safe with at the same time."

"So I became her best friend in less than two days?" I asked in surprise. Angi simply nodded in response. "Poor girl must've had a very boring life. I take it that you found Impa without my help?" I asked with a grin as we headed to where the Great Deku Tree, well, the Deku Tree Sprout was.

"Well she found us out in the field." the fairy said. "She said she heard a girl scream and raced towards that area. It was actually the same time you were fighting Ganondorf."

'Well she should get her ears checked. I don't scream like a girl.' I thought with a frown and looked away. "Well that's good." I said throwing on a smile. We stopped midway in the passage to the guardian of the forest to see Link coming our way with a sad expression. "What's wrong?" I asked a little worried.

"The Deku Tree Sprout just told Link that he isn't a Kokiri and Saria's the sage of the forest." Navi said as she patted Link's face to comfort him.

"And you're sad why?" I asked a little confused. Link looked at me with a little surprise. "Just because you're Hylian doesn't mean you can never come back here. You grew up here so it's your home. As for your friend Saria, she'll be with you no matter where you go. She's with you in your heart and always will be." A smile made its way on Link's face and he nodded. "That's better, now let's go. I want to take care of something before tomorrow." I said as I walked towards the tunnel that lead to Hyrule fields. Link caught up to me and pointed at Angi with a questioning look.

"It's not nice to point you know." she said and Link quickly put his hand down making me chuckle. "I'm Angi, Josh's guardian." she said happily.

"Guardian?" Navi asked in confusion. "Only the Great Deku Tree can appoint fairies as guardians to the Kokiri. But to a Gerudo of all things?" making me tense up for a second.

"As far as I'm concerned, the only male Gerudo is Ganodorf and I'd rather not be put in the same category as him. I know I may look like one at first glance but I'm not one of them." I said in a low tone as I looked over my shoulder at her. "Besides," I said, lightening up and putting up a smile, "I'm way better looking than him anyway." We all laughed and we finally reached Hyrule Fields. Link pulled out his ocarina and played Epona's song to call his horse.

"How does she even hear that?" I asked as I climbed up with Link when Epona reached us. Link only shrugged and we took off towards Lon Lon Ranch. "Wanting to try to see Malon agian?" I asked as we closed in on the ranch and Link nodded. We entered the ranch and rode Epona over to the corral.

"F-Fairy boy?" we heard a young woman call in surprise. We both looked over to see a red haired teenager on a horse look our way with a shocked expression. She was too busy looking at us to notice that she was headed straight for the fence.

"Malon watch out!" I yelled in hopes of snapping her out of her daze.

"Huh? AAAH!" she screamed as she flew off of the horse since it stopped suddenly. She went over the corral fence and landed head first onto the ground. Before I could say anything, Link had Epona galloping towards the motionless body. When we made it over to her Link and I both jumped off of Epona and kneeled down beside her.

"Hold on don't touch her Link." I said as I examined her to make sure she didn't have any major injuries. He watched with concern as I carefully picked her up and carried her to the ranch house. "Don't worry it's nothing bad. She was just knocked out but she'll have a pretty big headache when she wakes up." Link opened the door for me and we walked in.

"What did ya da to my girl ya blasted Gerudo?" a large man demanded as he swung a shovel at me. I was too shocked to react but Link jumped in the way and blocked it with his shield.

"Wait Talon!" I yelled as Link blocked another blow. "It's me Josh!" Talon paused in his attacks to look at me and Link.

"Josh?" he asked getting a good look at me. "Well how about that. You haven't aged a bit since the last time I saw ya." he laughed but stopped once he saw Malon not moving. "What happened to her? Is she alright?" he asked with deep concern.

"She'll be fine. She just bumped her head but I'm gonna take her up to her bed." Talon nodded and led us up the stairs to her room. I carefully set her down on her bed and wrapped her head with a bandage Talon gave me. "You gonna stay with her?" I asked Link as I walked out. He nodded and pulled up a chair beside her bed.

"Are you sure that she'll be alright?" Talon asked me outside Malon's room.

"Positive. She'll pull through and be fine in a few hours." I said with a reassuring smile. Talon let out a sigh of relief and smiled.

"Ever think of marrying her?" he asked out of the blue. His question caught me off guard but I laughed after recovered.

"Well if I where under different circumstances I might but," I began and looked in the room to see Link staring at Malon, "It looks like someone already beat me." I finished with a smile. Talon followed my gaze and let a large grin grow under his large moustache.

"You and that young man are free to stay here anytime." he laughed as he roughly patted my back. "You go on and go ta bed, you look tired. I'll take care of the rest." I walked over to the guest room and was about to thank him but he cut me off. "And thanks for looking out for her. She means the world to me."

"My pleasure." I said happily. "It feels good to help pretty ladies so of course I'm gonna do something." We both laughed as I walked into the guest room and shut the door.

"See ya in the mornin." I heard him call.

"Right, night." I chuckled as I crawled in the bed after taking my boots and blades off. "Night Link!" I called through the wall.

"Go to sleep!" I heard Navi yell back to me.

'Sheesh do fairies have their moments?' I thought as I lay my head down. "Night Tangi." I muttered as sleep took hold of me.

"Goodnight." I heard her say as she curled up on my pillow and my mind went into a peaceful darkness.

* * *

Like I said there'd be a little romance and drama but since I'm not the best writer in the world it won't be award winning.

Also let me know how I'm doing. Writers grow better over time but its faster if they get feedback.


	7. Familar Yet Unfamilar Encounters

This may seem a teensy bit rushed and I probably missed a few things but hey, I think I did pretty good overall. For those still reading and sticking with me... Enjoy!

* * *

"_Time is cruel in many ways, but at the same time very generous." a heavenly voice echoed throughout a vast white field. "Things change, things grow. Some for better, some for worse." A crowd of shadows gathered together at some assembly and listened to the inaudible words of the leader. "Things are lost, things are gained. What has happened has happened and memories are created from experiences." Some of the shadows walked away but many still remained and listened. "You may have lost your time, but in doing so you have gained anew."_

"_We may not have found anything yet but we mustn't give up hope." the leader's now audible voice billowed. "He's out there somewhere and we're going to find him." the shadows dispersed except for two. One laying on the ground comfortably and a smaller one lightly shaking the bigger one._

"_Wake up." a girl's voice echoed softly as the area and shadows slowly became engulfed by an orange light._

~ sc ~

"Wake up!" Angi whispered in my ear. I rolled over and pulled the sheet over my head. "Wake up, I heard something." she whispered again while pulling at my sheet. "I think I heard something growl."

"Link can take care of it." I mumbled sleepily as I turned away from her light. She seemed unusually bright at the moment, then again she had just woken me up. "Who knows, you might just be hungry."

"No that's not it." she said a little worriedly. "It's coming from the next room over, the one Link was in."

"If there was a monster Navi would've woken us up with her 'Hey! Watch out!'" I muttered mimicking the blue fairy at the last part. I looked over at the window and noticed that the sun was nowhere in sight. I let out a groan and buried my face in my pillow.

"Come on, they could be in trouble!" she whispered quickly and started tugging on my ear.

"Or you could be hearing things." I said but was muffled from the cushion and swatted at her.

"Get up already!" she said as she managed to pull some of the sheet off of me.

"Fiiine." I muttered as I slowly got up and off of the bed. I walked over to the table where I put my blades. Unfortunately for me, Angi thought it would be funny for her to fly near the ceiling so I couldn't see the floor too well. I tripped over my boots and kicked the stool but I grabbed the Kokiri Sword and took it with me to my door. After a few more stumbles and a few giggles from Angi, I slowly opened my door only for it to let out a loud screech.

The sudden noise stopped me and got rid of the rest of my sleepiness. I quickly opened my door the rest of the way to prevent it from screeching and walked into the hallway. Angi, being worried that we where out where whatever made the noise could see us, decided to cooperate and light my way to Link's room. I put my ear to the door and heard soft snoring. I shook my head not knowing if I should be mad at Angi for waking me up so early or laughing since his snoring had her so worried. I let out a sigh and looked at her.

"Tangi," I stated with a bit of laughter and annoyance, "you woke me up because Link's sleeping peacefully?" She flew up to the door and put her ear to it and listened.

"That's not what I heard. It was more of an AARRRR." she growled, trying to imitate some beast but failing miserably. I resisted the urge to laugh but some managed to get out. "What?"

"Nothing, nothing." I said, "If that's how it sounded then I don't think we have anything to worry about." I pushed the door open fast enough that it wouldn't screech and quietly walked in. The first thing that caught my eye was a dim blue light on the window sill. I looked at it more closely and saw that Navi was asleep in a bottle. Link must've borrowed a bottle from Talon and trapped the blue orb so she'd be quiet. I chuckled a little and looked over at Link to see him asleep on a cot near Malon's bed. I looked down at him with Angi illuminating his face and noticed a large drool stain on his pillow. I laughed a little and looked over to Malon and saw her sprawled out over her bed with her mouth wide open.

"Well it's safe to say that she'll be fine in the morning." I whispered cheerily. I went to walk out but stopped when I heard snoring again. I looked down at Link but his mouth wasn't moving. I looked at Malon and nearly busted out laughing when I saw that her breathing was in synch with the snoring. I quickly but quietly made my way out her room and shut the door. I leaned up against the opposite wall and let a little laughter out at a time so as not to wake anyone up. After a few minutes, I calmed down and went to go back to my room when a distant knock caught my attention. "You hear that?" I asked my light.

"Yeah." she whispered as she flew over to the top of the stairs. I crept my way over to her and looked down to see if anyone was down there. I heard another knock but it was louder and saw Talon walk to the front door and open it. I could make out the silhouette of three women, two with some type of pole-arm and one with two scimitars.

"Gerudo?" I whispered to myself as I reached up to Angi and cupped my hands around her to hide her light. I shushed her when she tried to escape and made it to where she could look out my hands. I heard Talon talking to the women but couldn't make anything out. After a minute or two, the women walked away and Talon shut the door slowly. I saw him let out a sigh and look in my direction. I froze wondering if he knew I was there or not.

"You can come down now, they're gone." he said as he sat down at the nearby table. I stayed where I was, half expecting him to just pull the 'I really didn't know you where there until you showed yourself' act. "Don't worry they don't know you're here. I told them that we hadn't had any recent visitors." Getting the hint that he really knew I was at the stairs I got up and walked down to him. "Whoa you really were up there?" he asked.

'Crap, fell for it.' I thought as I sat down at the table and let Angi go. "Those where Gerudo right?" I asked and he nodded. "What were they doing here? Don't they just live in the dessert?"

"Yes, those were Gerudo and they were searching for... partners." he said after a moment of thought. "They've been coming here recently in hopes of 'borrowing' a few workers."

"So they're either low on members or they're planning some sort of attack if they've been coming hear recently right?" I concluded and he nodded.

"Problem is, no one knows which so most men hide. Well, are hidden by their wives or girlfriends." he chuckled.

"Why didn't they take you or Ingo?" I asked "Too old?" I added with a grin.

"Bah!" he stated waving it off making me laugh. "They don't want to take me cuz they'd rather steal my horses. As for Ingo," he leaned forward and put his hand near his mouth as if Ingo might hear him, "he's too darn ugly for 'em." I laughed and shook my head. "I'm serious." he laughed. "You should see their expressions when they look at him." We laughed until the sun peaked over the horizon and flowed through the windows, which was only a few minutes at most.

"I'm gonna go out for a while to run an errand. You mind telling Link and Navi I'll be gone for a while? I'm sure he'll want to catch up with Malon since he hasn't seen her in seven years." Talon nodded and I got up.

"Tell us what?" Navi asked from nowhere, almost making me trip over the chair.

"Where'd you come from?" I asked, after righting myself up. She simply pointed up the stairs and I rolled my eyes. "I'm going to return that saw that I have to its owner."

"You know where he is?" the blue orb asked.

"I have a hunch on where he'd be." I said as I walked up the stairs and to my room. I put my hiking boots on, strapped my sword and machete in their places, clipped the saw onto my belt, and made my way back to the living room but stopped when I passed Malon's room.

"Hey Link I'm gonna borrow Epona for a bit." I said as I knocked on her door. "If Tangi comes back with her then I've gotten myself into trouble. If not then don't worry, I'll find a way back. Go on ahead if I take too long alright?" He let out a tired noise which I assumed meant 'Go ahead.' I walked downstairs and was about to go out but Talon stopped me.

"Have a bottle of milk to go." he said with a smile as he held out a bottle of Lon Lon milk. I hesitantly grabbed it and carefully looked at the label, not wanting another situation with it.

"Thanks." I said once I deemed it safe and placed the bottle in my left leg pocket. "Y'all take care now." I called as I walked out and whistled Epona's Song to call her to me.

"You to son." Talon called back as I mounted Epona and rode off to Gerudo Valley.

~ sc ~

When I made it to the gorge I made Epona go full gallop towards it. When she saw the drop she stopped suddenly and sent me flying over her and I collided with the rocky wall on the other side. I snapped out of my daze once I felt myself falling and frantically scrambled against the wall until I got a good hold. I took in a few breaths to try and calm myself and looked back at Epona to see her staring at me.

"Up here! Grab this rock!" Angi called as she flew to a stable looking rock that jutted out a bit. I slowly scaled the wall with Angi pointing out the best places to grab and not even daring to look down. Once I pulled myself over the top of the ledge, I crawled away from it a bit and turned over on my back. I stared into the sky as I tried to calm my pounding heart and steady my breathing.

"You alright over there kid?" I heard an older man ask. I looked over and saw a man in a blue open shirt and yellow shorts sitting by a tent near the valley wall.

"Y-yeah." I breathed as I rolled over and stood up to glare at Epona. I walked closer to the edge and bent down and patted my thighs. "Come on Epona! You can make it." I called. "No Epona! Wait!" I yelled as she turned and walked away. "Aww Eponaaaaa! Don't make me jump." I groaned as I kicked some dirt up. "Dang!"

"Hey kid." the man said as he noticed the saw on my belt. "Let me see that saw you have." I walked over to him and handed him the tool. "Yep no doubt about it." he said as he inspected the blade. "This is the saw I lost a long time ago. Thanks for finding it and bringing it to me. I'll trade you a sword that the Gorons gave me for it."

"That's fine." I said simply albeit a bit confused since I didn't remember this guy actually having a useable sword, heck I barely remembered that he was needed for the Big Gorron's Sword. He nodded and grabbed it out of a pile of junk just outside of his tent. He came back and handed me a broadsword that was about four and a half feet from point to the end of the hilt wrapped tightly in a bundle of cloth. The blade looked to be about three inches wide and it weighed around ten pounds but also felt a little unbalanced.

"Thanks." I said with a smile. I walked back to the ledge and peeked my head over it. "Awww man. Why Epona? Why did you abandon me?" I whined out loud.

"Just jump already." Angi said. "Or are you afraid of heights?" she asked with a giggle.

"I'm not afraid just... uncomfortable." I said as I looked at her and then looked over the edge again. "That's a really long way down." I said as I dropped a nearby rock down the chasm. It was a good ten seconds before I saw a small splash in the river below.

"I don't believe this!" Angi laughed. "The man that stood up to the Evil King Ganondorf is afraid of heights."

"Am not." I said.

"Then prove it by diving into the water." she said as she put her hands on her hips.

"No." I said turning my back to her and crossing my arms. "I don't wanna." She huffed and took up a thinking pose. She hovered over the drop and looked down.

"Whoa look at that!" She screamed suddenly. "Sheik's in trouble!" I looked over my shoulder and gave her a questioning look. "I'm serious, look!"

"Yeah right." I said as I walked over and looked over the ledge. Angi flew above my head and shot down with enough force to knock me off balance. I instinctively put a foot forward to catch myself but there wasn't anything to put my foot on except air. I screamed the whole way down and made a large splash in the river below. I surfaced for air and managed to get a little but the current took hold of me and dragged me down stream.

After my white water rafting without the raft, I was thrown into none other than Lake Hylia, or what was left of it anyway. The once beautiful Lake was only half full. My landing was soft but squishy at the same time as I fell into a shallow stream that lead to the lake. "Aah that's just great." I groaned as I pulled myself out of the mud pit and coughed up a good bit of water.

"Are you alright?" Angi asked with concern as she flew around me. I nodded and stood up while wiping mud off of me.

"I'll live." I said and Angi just busted out laughing. I gathered a ball of mud off of my arm and threw it right at her and knocked her to the ground. I laughed and went over to dig her out.

"Uh oh." I said growing worried when I pulled her out and she wasn't moving. I ran over to the water level and put her in to wash the mud off. "Come on don't do this to me." I said as I shook her lightly to get the water off of her. "This isn't funny Tangi." her light was dimming and I was starting to panic. I started to lightly rub the center of her chest with my finger in hopes of stimulating her to breath. To my relief she started to squirm after a few seconds but also started giggling.

"Stop that tickles!" she yelled through her laughing. I let out a sigh of relief and pulled my hand away. "You should've seen your face. Especially with all of that mud on you, you looked so serious." I let out an agitated sigh and tossed her over my shoulder. She let out a little squeak and I dove into the water to get most of the mud off of me. "Sorry." she said simply as she fluttered over to me when I resurfaced. "I didn't think you would care so much."

"Why would you think that?" I asked as I swam back to shore and climbed up the bank to the grass. "You lead Sheik to me so she'd save me from that skull kid, stood up for me when Sheik was trying to kill me, lead me through the Lost Woods, and appointed yourself as my guardian. Why wouldn't I care?" I asked as I rung what little water I could out of my clothes. I wiped most of the water off of my body and shook what I could out of my hair. "Ah! Cold." I yelped and tensed up from the wet coth clinging to me. "This sucks." I groaned as I went back over to the mud pit and picked up the wrapped up sword.

"Aaaah!" I heard a woman scream followed by a howl. I froze for a second but quickly recovered and ran in the direction it came from. When I made it over a hill I noticed a blonde woman backing away from a wolfos of all things.

"What the heck's a wolfos doing here?" I asked in utter confusion. I saw it slowly walking towards her. "Come on we've got to do something!" I yelled as I ran forward and readied my new sword for a strike. Tangi flew ahead of me and right in front of the wolfos' snout to grab its attention. She fluttered in front of it for a second and flew to the side when it tried to bite her. With it concentrating on Angi, its back was wide open. "HA!" I cried as I swung hard as I could and smashed the cloth covered blade into its unprotected back. Due to the cloth, my blade didn't cut it, but the force of the contact actually made the blade shift a little within its partial sheath. The wolfos was caught completely off guard by the powerful strike and was knocked forward a bit landing roughly on its belly.

I made my way over to it to finish it off but it erupted in red flames making me jump back in surprise. The flames soon turned blue and the werewolf let out a howl of pain before disappearing in the blue fire. I looked at the dark spot on the ground in bewilderment and then at my sword. I flipped it over a few times but could only see normal cloth covering the blade.

"Weird." I said thoughtfully as I propped it on my left shoulder since the Kokiri Sword was already on my right. "You alright miss?" I asked as I turned to the blonde woman. My eyes widened when I saw her face, or more importantly her red eyes looking around for something. It was the same lady I bumped into at the well in Kakariko Village. I was about to apologize again for that incident but a relatively deep voice stopped me.

"And I worked so hard to tame him too." a man in a dark pants, shirt, and hood that covered his eyes said with his arms crossed from the shade of a nearby tree. "Do you know how hard it is to tame a wild wolfos?" he asked somewhat lazily as he leaned against the tree.

"So that was your pet?" I asked a little shocked since he seemed to come out of nowhere, but also that he had actually domesticated a werewolf.

"Not exactly a pet. More along the lines of a fuzzy companion." he chuckled a bit. "But all I wanted to do was show Balto to that charming young lady behind you."

"Since when does hunting, stalking, chasing, cornering, clawing, biting, and attacking me count as showing off?" the woman growled. I simply blinked at all the things she listed that this man considered 'showing off.'

"How else was he suppose to show you what he knew how to do?" the man replied with a shrug and walked towards us.

"By not trying to kill me and demonstrating on a dummy." she retorted. The man let out a heavy sigh.

"Too bad this young man wasn't around earlier huh?" he asked with a grin. "And yes, I am indeed implying what you think I am." he added while looking at me.

"Are you sure?" I asked with my own grin ignoring his insult. "My mind has a tendency to wander off. I mean I could be imagining Ganondorf frolicking through a field of wild flowers in a bikini... I hate my mind sometimes." I sighed as I shook my head. The girls giggled at the thought while the man seemed speechless.

"I forgot how immature the young mind can be over the years." he said as he rubbed his hidden eyes. "No doubt those men from so long ago had something to do with it." I raised my eyebrow in confusion. "Oh don't tell me you've forgotten." he said as a smirk made its way on his face. "To protect and serve. Men of strength and honor. We fight what you fear. Sound familiar?" my eyes widened when he was quoting a few firefighter phrases.

"What makes you think they are?" I asked nonchalantly while shrugging, trying to not looked too shocked. He chuckled and walked back over to the tree that he hid under earlier.

"I'm psychic." he said somewhat sarcastically.

"What's your deal?" Angi asked. "You make your pet wolfos attack this lady and don't even care that he's gone? Do you even have a heart?"

"Oh indeed I do and believe me when I say that its hurting. Balto's dead but there's nothing I can do about that is there?" he stated calmly and picked up a sword that was leaning against the tree. I immediately went on edge and moved closer to the woman. "How about I kill your companion and let you know how it feels?" both girls moved back a little but I stood my ground even though I was growing more and more worried.

"How about we just forget all that just happened and be on our merry way?" I asked somewhat hopefully. I wanted to avoid a sword fight as much as possible since I was seriously lacking in skill with it. The closest thing I had to it was watching movies, playing games, and stick fighting with my brothers.

"How about no?" he asked as he drew the longsword from its sheath. "As much as I don't want to do this, I'm afraid I can't allow you to leave this place alive." he walked forward

"Uh then you just let me put up camp and live here then?" I asked as I backed up a bit but stayed in front if the blonde and Angi.

"Ha he'd find out eventually so, in a way, I'd be doing you a favor." he said as he ran forward and did a downward slash. I brought my broadsword up and blocked his strike and tilted my sword a bit so his would slide down towards the tip. Unfortunately, the cloth prevented his blade from doing what I hoped it would so I was stuck with having to use my strength to throw him back. He stumbled back a few steps and I took advantage by swiping at him. He put his sword out and slowed my attack enough to where he could twist out of range. "You're using that?" he chuckled as he got into a stable stance. "It's basically a metal pole. You can't cut me with that."

"True but cuts aren't the only wounds you need to worry about." I said a bit uneasily. He had the advantage on experience, what looked like a well-balanced sword, and he knew how to use it. I on the other hand had an unbalanced broadsword with a blade wrapped in cloth so it couldn't cut anything effectively, had little experience in using swords, and lacked any battle experience with weapons other that what I did in the Forest Temple.

He lunged at me with a stab but I managed to jump to the side and block another overhead slash. His blade dug into the cloth again so I couldn't make it slide off which made me have to throw him off again. Before I could do anything he kicked me in the gut to knock me back. With me off balance and not focusing on my sword, his continued downward and hit the ground, narrowly missing my body.

"You're quite the lucky man." he said with a smirk. "Somehow eluding Lord Ganondorf for so long, let alone surviving one of his strongest attacks." he let loose a barrage of horizontal slashes but I managed to block them. The only thing that seemed to be damaged was the cloth that miraculously lasted this long. When he finished his last slash and left an opening, I swung my sword and hit something that made the blade shake.

"You're right." he said with a grimace on what I could see of his face as he barely blocked my strike with his right forearm. "Cuts aren't the only wounds you need to worry about." his hand started glowing purple and a violet flame appeared in it. "Magic can hurt quite a bit." his grimace changed to a smirk.

"Look out!" the woman yelled a bit too late. He shot his hand forward and grabbed my face. I felt a small spot on my chest grow warm and felt like my energy was being drained. I dropped my sword and tried to pry his hot hand away from me. Angi flew forward but the man simply swatted her away with his sword. Feeling that I wasn't getting anywhere and my energy was getting relatively low, I brought my right hand back and slammed it into his elbow making it bend in a not-so-comfortable way. He screamed in pain and his grip loosened to where I could pull his hand away from me. I still had a hold of his forearm and pulled him towards me as I sent an elbow into his ribs. I pulled back and back-fisted him in the face and let go as he backed up. He dropped his sword and gripped his now broken right arm tightly.

"How do you still have a face?" he asked through clenched teeth. "There shouldn't be anything left of it!" Before I could say anything, a purple portal appeared in front of me and blocked my vision. I saw the man's head appear above it with someone's hand around his throat.

"You're coming with me traitor!" a dark voice growled as the hooded man was pulled into the portal.

"This isn't over kid and don't hold your breath about going back to-" I heard him choke out as the purple wall disappeared. I looked around to see the woman and Angi coming towards me.

'Don't hold my breath about going back where?' I thought in confusion as I stumbled a little from feeling exhausted.

"Thank you so much!" the woman said as she ran up and hugged me. I hugged back but mostly since she almost made me fall over. "I'm glad you're alright."

"Yeah, me too." I chuckled. "But what about you?" I asked as I pulled away. "Did that wolfos give you that bruise on your cheek?" I looked her over to see if she had any cuts. 'Come to think of it, isn't that where I hit Sheik?' I thought as I looked into her eyes. 'They're the same color but something's a little different about them. Plus Sheik acts a whole lot different than this.'

"No, I got the bruise from getting hit with a door yesterday." she said sheepishly. I held back a chuckle and walked to the my sword. "But other than a few scratches, that wolfos didn't hurt me, just took me by surprise."

"Mmhmm." I said half believing her as I picked up my sword, well part of it anyway. I picked up the handle with less than a foot of blade attached. Apparently the cloth was what held the sword together and with it shredded, my sword was practically useless. 'Okay now it's how I remember it.' I thought as I looked at the metal shards and tattered cloth on the ground.

"The Big Goron can fix your sword for you. I could take you to him if you want." she said once she saw the shattered blade.

"You'd take me all the way to the top of Death Mountain to get my sword fixed?" I asked as I looked at the metal shards.

"No but I'll take you to where he is now." I looked at he questioningly. "He got down when Death Mountain started to grow more active a few days ago. In fact he's at the camp that the residents of Kakariko Village set up incase Death Mountain erupted." she said as she began walking towards the large house. "Come on, it's not too far away from here." I let out a tired sigh and followed her, not noticing the man's sword evaporate into purple particles and disappear.

"Hey Tangi, how many women have blonde hair and red eyes?" I whispered to my guardian. She sat on my shoulder and took up a thinking pose.

"Not too many." she said after a moment. "Why does she seem familiar?"

"She doesn't remind you of Sheik?" I asked, a little surprised since it seemed kind of obvious.

"Other than looks no." she said. "Sheik would've taken that wolfos out easily but that lady looked like she was backing up in fear."

"True, but she's practically skipping in joy after being attacked." I pointed out. "Don't you think that's a bit strange?"

"Well wouldn't you be if a good looking person came by and saved you from being eaten?" she asked making me chuckle. "But what about that strange man? You looked surprised when he said those things. Do you know him?"

"No but now that you mention it, he does seem familiar in a way." I said thoughtfully. 'Man today's been a crazy day so far, I have another weird shadowy dream with some woman talking about time, I freefall into the Gerudo Valley river and land in a mud pit, I save the lady I bumped into in Kakariko from a wolfos at the half-full Lake Hylia, fight the master of said wolfos, and had said owner drain over half my energy with some fire on his hand which he claimed should've burned my face away. On top of that he talked as if he knew I wasn't of this world.' I thought growing a little worried as I remembered his words. 'Don't hold your breath about going back. You may have lost your time, but in doing so you have gained anew. Does that mean I can't go back home?' I didn't hear the sound of footsteps coming my way. 'No think positive, there's gotta be a way.' I was brought out of my thoughts by something wet and soft going up my face. "Gah!" I let out in surprise.

"Looks like you two already know each other pretty well." the blonde woman laughed as I wiped the slobber off of me.

"You could say that we're old friends." I chuckled as I scratched the tan horse's head. "So," I started as I walked to the side and got ready to climb up. "Do you want me in front or in back?"

"You should get in front." she said as she dismounted. "Can't have you falling or jumping off."

"Now what kind of idiot would jump off of a moving horse?" I asked as I climbed up in the saddle and grabbed the reigns. The fairy and woman giggled at my unintentional self-insult. She climbed up behind me and wrapped her arms around me. I tensed up since my clothes where still damp but lightly kicked the horse's ribs to get him going. "By the way, I never got your name." I said as we slowly made our way to the gates of Lake Hylia.

"Oh I'm sorry I never introduced myself. My name's Zefrelda." she said with a smile.

* * *

Who was this strange man who seemed to know so much? I'm sure you can guess who/what it is but when magic's involved anything can happen.

Feel free to give feedback, all reviews are welcome!


	8. A Not So Warm Welcome

Woo new review! I was starting to think that I wasn't gonna get anymore. Ah well I'm happy about that.

Anyway I'm sorry for being a little late on the post, I try to get one up per week. I blame writer's block. I believe this went well but I'll let the readers decide on that. Enjoy!

* * *

"Uh... I'm sorry?" I asked blinking a few times in shock. "Did you say Zefrelda?" I looked over my shoulder and saw her nod with a wide smile. "By any chance are you famous?"

"In a manner of speaking, but it depends on how you look at it." she said with a thoughtful expression. "Everyone in Kakariko knows me. So yes I am famous."her smile returned and I shared a glance with Angi and started laughing. "Is my name really that funny?"

"No, no that's not it." I said through my laughter. "It's just that your name reminds me of a time I had with my friends." Our horse stopped at the fenced gate of Lake Hylia and just stared at it. "Aw don't pull an Epona on me now." I said as I kicked his ribs a little harder but he didn't budge.

"You've got to make him go faster if you want to make it over obstacles." she said as she took the reigns out of my hands. "Come on Ocean Roll." she said sweetly as she made the horse turn and move back so he could get a running start.

'Ocean Roll? Who names their horse after a body of water and something you eat at dinner?' I thought as I felt air pass over me. "Is he your's?" she nodded and made him gallop towards the fence. When we were close to hitting it, Ocean Roll leapt over it and did the same with the second fence. The whole time I was bent over and holding my arms close to keep myself warm. Riding a horse after taking a swim and not drying off is a bad idea. "This is gonna suck." I muttered.

"Why do you say that?" she asked as we slowed to a trot.

"The wind." I replied. "I just got done with a down river swim and now I'm riding a horse through Hyrule field." I sent an accusing glace a Angi but the fairy simply giggled.

"You mean you swam down the Gerudo Valley River?" she asked in surprise. "I heard that it's filled with monsters and sharp rocks now."

"Nothing that I noticed." I said with a shrug. "Then again I was busy fighting the current to get air while it was carrying me to the lake." Angi looked away when I mentioned the 'fighting for air' part. "Anyway, where's this camp that the Big Goron is at?" I asked, hoping to change the subject since Angi seemed bothered by it. She pointed over my shoulder to a small mountain off in the distance. "Backseat driver." I muttered getting a small laugh from the girls.

~ sc ~

"Is this it?" I asked as I lightly tugged on Ocean Roll's reigns to stop him in front of a sign. Angi flew over and read it. She flew back and nodded showing that it was.

"Yes, it says 'Kakariko camp, temporary refuge from the possibly soon-to-be active Death Mountain." she whispered as she landed on my shoulder.

"Why are we whispering?" I whispered back. The fairy pointed over my shoulder at the blonde head leaning against me. 'That explains the quiet warmth. Can't blame her though, I would've fallen asleep if it weren't for my damp clothes. ' I thought as I nudged our horse forward. "Wakey wakey sleepy head." I said lightly as I shrugged my shoulders a little to help wake her. "We're here."

"Hmm? Oh!" Her head popped up and she dismounted once I stopped the horse. "Let me show you around." she said cheerfully. I slowly got down from Ocean Roll since I was still a little tired from my fight at Lake Hylia and didn't feel like doing a face plant. Once I got down, Zefrelda lightly slapped the horse's rump and caused him to run off into the field.

"And you did that because..." I trailed off expecting her to explain herself.

"He lives at Lon Lon Ranch." she said earning a questioning look from me. "I own him but the ranch hands take care of him for me." She lead me through the camp, passing many tents and stalls that sold various supplies. Along the way I couldn't help but notice the reactions of the people. Some stared, some glared, some walked away, some hid behind pots, some hid their curious children behind themselves with a fearful expression, and I could've sworn that a few wet their pants. "And this is where the kids usually play." Zefrelda said as she pointed to a jumble of trees where three children happen to be playing at the moment.

"Wow there's so much around here that you wouldn't expect to be in a camp." Angi said happily, grabbing the attention of the few kids that where playing.

"Look at that!" a boy with blonde spiky hair yelled.

"Is that a fairy?" a girl with dark brown straight hair asked in excitement.

"Let's catch it!" The last boy with light brown short hair said as all three ran towards Angi. She let out an 'Eep' and flew off with the kids in tow. Zefrelda and I laughed at the sight of the kids chasing after the orange light. That is until Angi decided to hide behind me. The kids didn't have enough time to stop and plowed into me. Normally it'd only knock me back a step or two, but considering that most of my energy was sucked out of me during my fight, they tackled me to the ground. The blonde woman laughed harder and I did too after a few seconds. Angi and the kids soon joined in and we all laughed for a few minutes.

"Oh my goodness I almost forgot!" Zefrelda said suddenly. "I'm sorry but I need to run an errand really quick. Uh, could you watch the kids for me for a bit?"

"Sure." I said with a smile. She smiled back gratefully and ran off. "Okay kids, let the fairy be. They don't like being captured." I chuckled as the kids struggled to get up from each other and try to catch Angi. The kids wined but got off of me and sat down. I sat back up and the orange orb sat down on my shoulder. They looked at me with wide curious eyes once they noticed my face.

"Are you a Gerudo?" the blonde asked. "My mom says that they live in the dessert and kidnap the strong guys and take them back to their base." he then let out a gasp. "Don't take me away!" I chuckled at his reaction but the little girl beat me to talking.

"He can't be. Only girls can be Gerudo dum dum." she said.

"But there is that one guy that's a Gerudo. I think my brother said his name was Ganondork." I laughed a little while the blonde stuck his tongue out at the girl. I was about to speak but the girl beat me again.

"But he's their king so of course he'd be a guy." she said. It seemed like they forgot about me so I just looked around and noticed that we were actually a little ways away from the camp. I was too busy noticing the people's reactions that I missed practically everything and everywhere Zefrelda took us.

"And there's that other guy that's with him sometimes." the blonde stated, catching my attention.

"Yeah but he always has that hood on so no one knows what he looks like." the girl said crossing her arms. "Just because he hangs around Ganondork doesn't make him a Gerudo."

"Oh, oh!" the short haired boy said jumping up and down. "I heard one of the guards say that they saw his face!"

"What did they say he looked like?" the blonde asked. The short haired boy simply pointed over to me making me blink a few times in surprise. "Are you him?" he asked as they stared at me.

"No but I uh, met him at Lake Hylia earlier today though." I said not wanting to encourage them about violence.

"Was he a Gerudo?" the blonde asked getting a little closer.

"Well he-" I was interrupted by the light brown haired kid

"Did he have a big nose?" he asked.

"Was he strong?" the girl asked.

"Did he have long ears?" I wasn't paying attention to who asked that since I started to think about my encounter with the hooded man.

'Now that I think about it, he didn't have a huge nose so he can't be a Gerudo. His hood wasn't jutting out on the sides so he didn't have ears like a Hylian. The dark voice that came out of the portal must've been Ganondorf's that called him a traitor. I was called a traitor back in the Forest Temple so I must look like him, or rather he looks like me if Ganondorf thought the hooded guy was me. He must be the evil being that Sheik mentioned that was manipulated to look like me. Only question is... why?' I thought as the kids continued their bombardment of questions. Angi lightly tapped on my cheek to get my attention and I looked at her from the corner of my eye.

"There's a few people coming with weapons." she whispered to me. "Be careful, some of them don't look very happy." I gave a slight nod to let her know that I heard her.

"What are you kids doing out here?" a guard out of the three coming up to us asked. "You all know you shouldn't be this far away from camp."

"Just making a new friend." the blonde said making me smile a bit.

"Oh? And who might he be." the leader asked pointing to me.

"Our new friend." the girl said happily. "He's real nice." the boys nodded showing they agreed.

'And all I did was let them play with Tangi and ask questions.' I thought with a smile. "Nice to meet ya, I'm Josh." I said cheerfully with a smile as I looked over my shoulder at the guards. The two soldiers behind the leader visibly tensed when they saw my face.

"Sheldon, Woric. Why don't you two take the kids back to camp." the leader more commanded than asked calmly. "I'm gonna show our guest around for a bit." he threw on a smile but seemed a lot less friendly than he looked. The guards behind him nodded and lead the kids off to the camp. "Out with it Gerudo." he said once they left. "What were you putting into those kids' heads?" his smile was replaced with a frown and I could tell he was glaring at me even with his visor on.

"Eeeaaasy." I said hoping to calm him down. I wasn't in the condition to fight, heck I was doing good to walk around and not appear very tired. "They were actually talking the whole time, I only got in a few sentences." He slammed the butt of his spear against the ground, causing me to tense and Angi to fly off of my shoulder and around me.

"Don't give me that." he growled. "You were scouting ahead for another raid." he pointed an accusing finger at me. "And you just happened to be spotted by the kids so you had to be nice to them to avoid suspicion."

"Do I even look like a Gerudo to you?" I asked but he was silent. "Okay stupid question but I'm not scouting for anything. I just came here to get my sword fixed." I said as I reached around to where I put the broken sword on my belt. "Huh?" I asked since I didn't feel it. "I could've sworn that I put it on my belt. Oh, don't tell me I left it at Lake Hylia!" I let out a long sigh and looked back up to the soldier seeing a smirk on his face.

"Well it doesn't matter what you came here for." he said as he propped his spear on his shoulder and started walking around me. He stopped in front of me and slammed the butt of his spear down again. "You've caused a lot of trouble for a lot of people." I slowly got up with a grunt, making him take a step back and hold his spear out with both hands.

"Okay I get it, you don't want me here." I said with a sigh. "How about I just leave and none of us get involved with a fight?" I turned around and started walking off towards the camp.

"Don't turn your back on me Gerudo!" he yelled as he readied his spear and ran at me.

"Look out!" Angi yelled. I looked over my shoulder to see him running with the tip of his spear aimed for my torso. I spun around and knocked his weapon to the side with my left arm and punched him in the jaw with my right. Unfortunately, I was a little late on deflecting his attack and received an unpleasant gash on my side. I growled in frustration from my boots still being a little squishy, my partially damp clothes clinging to me, a cut in my shirt, the fact that I was still tired, and in pain from the cut I just received.

"I'm not who you think I am." I said trying to keep myself calm as I held my side. I backed up and kept my weapons sheathed since I didn't want to entice him to attack me again. "And on top of that, I'm not a Gerudo!"

"You can't fool me." he said after he snapped out of his daze from my punch. " Just because you lost most of your nose in battle doesn't mean you're not one, Gerudo!" He jabbed at me but I managed to back out of his range in time.

"Are your ears just for decoration?" I yelled "I'm not a freakin' Gerudo!" He growled and charged at me again with the spear point aimed for my gut. I knocked the point away like last time but that didn't stop him from ramming me with his shoulder. I felt a sudden gust of wind as I fell and landed on my back. I looked up and saw the guard bring back his spear.

"Stop!" a woman cried as the guard thrust his spear forward. He looked over to whoever made it and, in the process, missed me by a mere inch. I took the opportunity to grab his spear that was now stuck in the ground and shoved my foot forward to kick him away from me. Unfortunately, he had a good grip and I wasn't at full strength. All I was succeeding in was making him look away with my boot shoved against the side of his face. If it weren't for my predicament I'd be laughing at how he looked. The next thing I know is that my assailant was roughly pushed away from me.

"Z-Zefrelda?" the guard asked once he stopped stumbling. "W-what are you doing? He's a dangerous enemy!" he yelled as she helped me stand up.

"The only dangerous one here right now is you." she said as she glared at him. "And I'm saving the man who saved me a little while ago."

"D- What?" he stuttered looking at me. I would've sent him my own glare but I was busy panting and holding myself up. The wound that he gave wasn't actually hurting like it normally would. In fact, I feel even more tired than before he attacked me. "C-can you walk?" he asked me shamefully.

"Nooo I'm just going to crawl all the way to camp and hope someone helps me." I said sarcastically as I righted myself up and held my side. It was hurting but it was bearable so I could at least walk.

"Josh, drink your milk." Angi commanded lightly, hoping to break the tension. "You'll feel better." With all that had happened, I had completely forgotten about the bottle and its contents that was still in my pocket. I pulled it out and was surprised to see that there wasn't any damage to it as well as it still being nice and cool. I uncorked it and chugged down the whole glass of milk. I took in a breath and slowly let it out to help calm myself so I wouldn't slam the guard's face in the ground once I had some of my energy back.

"Are you alright?" Zefrelda asked once she saw me put my hand back on my side. I simply let out a breath and nodded my head.

"A-are you sure?" the guard asked somewhat quietly while scratching the back of his head. "I mean it felt like I got you pretty good on the side." I removed my hand and was surprised to see no blood was on it. I looked at my wound and was surprised that I wasn't on the ground in pain. It was deeper than it felt but wasn't too bad.

"Yeah no kidding." I muttered making Angi fly over and inspect it. She let out a gasp when she saw it.

"Hang on!" she said hurriedly as she circled around me a few times. Sparkles started to fall from her and the pain began to ebb away as the cuts and scratches that I had started to heal up. "There, that should do it." she said tiredly as she slowly fell towards the ground.

"You, are the most awesome fairy there is." I said happily. She giggled and sat down in my hands when I held them out for her to land on.

"Don't get used to it." she said with a tired sigh. "It takes a lot of magic to heal someone."

"Here." the guard said as he held out a green bottle to me. "It'll replenish your fairy's magic reserves." I took it and tilted it so Angi could drink it. "And I'm really sorry for attacking you. You just look so much like Ganondorf's follower and I wanted to protect the citizens." I took in another deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Well it wouldn't be the first time I was mistaken to be him." I said calmly. "And it's your duty to protect the people and I'll respect that since I had the same duty back home. I'm all better thanks to Tangi and she's better because of you. So yeah, I'll let it go." He let out a small sigh and I held up my hand once Angi flew out of it. "If you get me a new shirt."

"Alright." he chuckled. "There's plenty at the barracks, follow me. You too Zefrelda, can't have you getting hurt out here." he said as he pulled his spear out of the ground and started to walk towards the camp. "It'll be getting dark soon so we'd better-" he was interrupted by a wolf howling, signaling that it was night, "hurry up."

"Lovely." I muttered when I heard the sound of the ground being dug up. I turned around to see a group of stalchild coming our way. 'How can the militia have their hands full with just stalchildren?' I thought as I swung the Kokiri sword and knocked a skeleton's head off and finished it with my machete. 'I mean the guards have spears that are over twice as long as these things' arms so they shouldn't be a problem.' "How're you doin over there?" I called after I destroyed a few more.

I looked over to the guard since I didn't get a response and couldn't help but laugh. An armed man in steel-plated leather armor that was a few inches shorter than a giant stalchild, was practically hiding behind Zefrelda as the skeletons came after me.

"Hahahah- ow!" I cried since one hit me in my previously injured side. I took the liberty to kick his head off and the guard jumped when it landed next to him. After finishing the last few, I sheathed my blades and walked over to the Hylians. "Well that wasn't too bad." I said as I held my hands behind my head. They looked passed me with a scared expression on their faces. "What? Another skeleton behind me?" I asked getting a slow nod from them both.

I drew my sword, flipped the blade downwards, and stabbed behind me not bothering to look for my intended target. Instead of hearing the sound of bones falling apart and burning, I heard the sound of metal clashing with metal and low cackling that made a chill run up my spine. I slowly turned my head to see what I didn't want to see. My sword had connected with the shield of a Stalfos that just came out of the ground behind me, though it was a little different than the ones in the Forrest Temple. It was more gray then white and its equipment had a dark purple hue to it.

"Uh... hi." I said uneasily. It brought its sword up and slashed downwards but I dove and rolled out of the way. It looked at me, then to Zefrelda and the guard, and then back to me again.

"Dieeee." I heard it hiss as it made its way towards me. It let out a slash that probably would've decapitated me had I not ducked and moved to its right. I attacked its exposed ribs but it jumped back after a few strikes. It glared and growled at me before doing a jump slash, planning to cut me in two. I brought my sword up and deflected his attack to the left and gave an attack of my own aimed for the unarmored area on its chest. It easily blocked my sword with its shield and rammed me to knock me back. It took the opportunity to give off a strong horizontal slash while I was off balance but I drew my machete and parried the attack... mostly. Since I was stumbling back, I couldn't efficiently defend myself and my machete was knocked out of my hand. On the bright side, the collision between our blades knocked me back enough to avoid major damage.

I glanced down and felt my chest with my now free hand to see how bad it was. Luckily, only the tip of its sword got me so it was just a bad scratch at most on my chest. I looked back up to see the Stalfos running at me and slashed at me again. I barely managed to bring up my blade in time to catch his wavy sword and stop its diagonal slash. It added pressure but I stood my ground until it rammed me with its shield again. I fell onto my back and my eyes widened in fear when it jumped up to finish me. A spear came out of nowhere and hit the skeleton warrior hard enough in the side to knock it out of the air and onto the ground beside me. I quickly rolled to my feet and plunged the Kokiri sword into the unusual Stalfos' skull.

"Impressive... you've got both luck and a little skill." I heard it whisper lowly as it began to dissolve into purple particles from under me. "But don't count on someone saving you every time you're in a bind." The particles then stopped in the air and shot towards the sword and made it glow purple. I pulled it out of the ground and looked at it curiously. The glow then drained into the handle and my hand started to burn. I dropped the sword and grabbed my hand, hoping that it would stop. The burning in my right hand slowly subsided a few seconds later.

"Are you alright?" Zefrelda asked as I opened and closed my hand, testing it to see if it was damaged. I nodded and gingerly wrapped my hand around the hilt of the Kokiri sword, half expecting it to still be hot. There was no trace of it being damaged or heated so I sheathed it and picked up the spear that saved my life.

"Thanks for the help." I said with a smile as I walked over to the two and gave the spear to the guard. "He would've had me if you didn't intervene."

"I do not deserve the credit sir." he said as he shook his head and looked away. "Zefrelda was the one who helped you. I regret to say that I was too afraid to do anything."

"Riiiight, well, at least we're safe for now, but we'd better get to camp. That fight took more out of me than I expected." I said as I started to walk away.

"Wait Josh." Angi called from a few yards away. "I found your other sword." I walked over to her and looked down at the area she was partially illuminating. I saw two shining pieces of metal and bent down to pick them up.

"Whoop-de-doo." I said with a sigh as I examined my broken machete. "Now all I have to defend myself is a dagger." I shook my head and let out another sigh. "Let's go before any more show up."

~ sc ~

"So... this is the barracks?" I asked as we stopped in front of what looked like a bunch of wooden beams sticking out of the ground with a blanket strewn over the top. "I wouldn't even call it a tent."

"We're... a bit short on supplies." the guard said while scratching his chin. "This is just to keep the rain off of our equipment. Everything else goes to the citizens and Gorons to keep them as cozy as possible."

"The Gorons are here too?" I asked in surprise.

"Big Goron and a few others are." Zefrelda said. "Most of them were captured and imprisoned inside Death Mountain by Ganondorf's minions, although some still reside on it and in their city."

"Man, if only I didn't leave my sword at Lake Hylia." I muttered to myself.

"You mean your broken sword right?" the blonde asked getting a nod from me. "Oh don't worry about that. I already took it to him and he said he'd have it fixed in a few days."

"Really? Thanks! But... when did you get my sword from me and go see him?" I asked as the guard started rummaging for a shirt that would fit me.

"I managed to get it off of your belt before the kids tackled you and I took it to him when I delivered his eye drops." she stated as we watched and ducked under a few things the guard threw around in his search. "It's funny how I go out to get the Big Goron's prescription for his eyedrops and I'm attacked by a wolfos." The rummaging stopped for a second but soon continued.

"Then it's a good thing I dropped in when I did." I chuckled and looked over to Angi. "Oh and thanks for stopping that Stalfos back there. That wouldn't have ended pretty if he got me."

"You're quite welcome, but it was the least I could do for you since you saved me twice." she said with a smile.

"And you've saved me twice. You've got one heck of an arm by the way." I said sharing a small laugh with her and Angi. We stopped when the guard started making his way out of the makeshift tent holding out a shirt. "No." I said simply while crossing my arms once I saw it. The girls laughed at the white shirt with pink, heart-printed, frilly long-sleeves.

"Aw come on Josh." Angi teased. "You'll look so cute in it."

"I don't care." I said stubbornly. "I'm not gonna to wear that." I looked down at my dark green shirt and noticed a few burn marks as well as the two cuts. "At least not the way it is now." I took the shirt and drew my sword and started to cut part of the sleeves off. "What's something like this doing in the Militia's barracks anyway?" I asked once I finished making it into a plain short-sleeved shirt.

"The citizens donated a lot of things to us so we could better protect them." he said as he went back to digging. "In fact there should be a little bit of armor and a weapon we can spare for you. It's the least I can do since you protected us out there and lost one of your weapons."

"If there's anything that isn't too heavy or restricting I'll take it." I said watching him go through the equipment. "And if there's a spare sword-"

"You mean like this?" he asked as he came out holding a piece of leather armor and a broadsword. "Sorry we had less than I thought but it's better than nothing right?"

"That'll work." I said as I took the Kokiri sword off of my back so I could take my shirt off. Both Zefrelda's and the guard's eyes widened when I took the damp fabric off. "What?" I asked when I noticed their gaze.

"You have connections to the royal family?" the guard asked in surprise when he saw my necklace.

"Kinda." I said as I picked up my new shirt and put it on. "Zelda's caretaker, Impa, entrusted me with her safety. So in a way, I was the unofficial bodyguard for the princess for a little while."

"So, does that mean she's nearby?" he asked as I took my machete's now useless sheath off my lower back and replaced it with the Kokiri sword.

"I haven't seen her in seven years so she could be anywhere." I said as I grabbed the shoulder guard the soldier had put on a nearby table and started to put it on.

"Seven years?" he asked in shock. "You mean you became her bodyguard when you were just a child?"

"Haha no." I chuckled as I struggled with the straps on the left leather pauldron. "Grr, stupid thing." I muttered but Zefrelda started helping me after she recovered from her shock. We strapped the first strap diagonally across my torso. We connected a second strap across my left side to secure the first strap. The shoulder armor covered my left shoulder and enough of my chest and back to protect my heart. "Thanks." I said getting a smile from her, though her face seemed a teensy bit redder than usual. "I'm exactly the way I was then I am now."

"But, how?" he asked completely confused. "Do you have the magic to never age?"

"No." I laughed. "I have practically no skill in magic."

"Then... how did you survive Ganondorf's attack." Angi asked.

"Zelda's the one to thank for that." I said earning a confused look from her even though I couldn't make it out. "She said that this necklace was magical and would help protect me." I pulled it out and looked at it. "Anyway," I said as I let it dangle and looked up at them. "I'm gonna go find somewhere to sleep that doesn't have people glaring at me. Night Mr..."

"Just Kevin is fine." he said holding his hand out.

"Well then Mr. Just Kevin is Fine, thanks for the equipment." I said with a grin as I shook his hand. He shook his head and chuckled as I grabbed my new broadsword from the table and propped it on my shoulder. "Night Zefrelda." I said as I walked off to search for a spot to sleep.

"Wait, you could stay here by the barracks since not many civilians come by here." she said as she pointed to an area of soft grass. "And Kevin can tell all the guards that you aren't the hooded man, can't you Kevin?" she looked over to the guard and he nodded.

"Sounds good." I said with a shrug. I walked over and laid down on the patch of grass she pointed out after I put my swords beside me.

"And put this on." she threw my damp shirt at me and hit me in the face.

"What for? It's cold." I asked as sat up and I pulled it off.

"Put it on your head so no one will see your ears and think you're that hooded man." she said as she started to walk away.

"Oh. That makes sense." I said simply as I laid back down and put it over my face. "Night everyone." I called as I put my hands behind the back of my head.

"Goodnight." Angi, Kevin, and Zefrelda chorused.

"And make sure no one takes my stuff." I muttered sleepily after a while. I heard a giggle and felt Angi land on my stomach and lay down. From all the action that happened today, the darkness of sleep quickly came over me relatively quickly.

* * *

And another chapter down. Review and tell me how you think it's going!


	9. Time to Hit the Ol' Rocky Trail

This one took a little longer since this gets a little more indepth about the additions to the plot. I'm a little iffy about it but it has to come up somehow right?

Anyway hope you all enjoy!

* * *

"_The amazement of what one can do whom is facing utter destruction in the face is simply unpredictable." a relatively deep voice echoed throughout a purple field. "A mother can lift a car so her pinned child can escape. A man can lift a boulder that is pushing him to a certain plummet hundreds of feet below. A person's will can range from being softer than a cloud to being harder than steel. However," the purple field began to fade to black, " the will to do something is not always enough. Whether it be their own or someone else's, one must have the strength to carry out that will." The voice began to slowly fade and a small pulse of energy was given off. "Also, caution is highly advised. Danger can appear when one least expects it." A dark chuckle followed the warning and disappeared as another pulse of energy was given off, followed by a flash of two red orbs._

~ sc ~

"Is he dead?" A little boy asked as I slowly opened my eyes to darkness. "He's been like that for a long time."

"No dummy he's still breathing." I felt something poke my chest. I would've swatted it away but my arms weren't responding. In fact, they weren't behind my head where I last remember having them.

"It's alright, he's just sleeping." a young woman said. "He had a rough night last night. He protected me and a friend of mine from monsters."

"That and he's real lazy." a high pitched voice added.

'Okay, why can't I see?' I wondered but soon realized that my green shirt was still over my face. 'Oh, duh, but why the heck can't I feel my arms?' I then felt something blow air on me and lift my shirt off of my face. I shut my eyes before it came off completely so as not to be blinded by the morning sun.

"No, no leave him alone boy." the woman said as she pulled whatever the thing was that took my shirt away from me. "He needs his rest." The creature didn't heed her command and walked back over to me with heavy footsteps. The next thing I know is something wet, slimy, and soft slide up my face from my jaw.

"Gah! Stop! Stop! I'm awake!" I cried as it kept licking me. "I'm up just stop!" Since I didn't have use of my arms, I could only turn my head away from the slimy tounge. Unfortunately, my face seemed to taste good to whatever was slobbering all over me.

"Ocean Roll stop!" the woman commanded as she pulled the horse back again. "I'm really sorry about that." The three kids and fairy didn't seem too worried about me and just laughed.

"I've had worse wake up calls." I said groggily as I sat up and rubbed my face against my shoulders in hopes of getting the slobber off. "But more importantly, I can't feel my arms." I looked at the kids that I met yesterday and then to Zefrelda. "What did y'all do to me?"

"Oh it was such a cute site!" Angi giggled as she flew in front of me, making me look away from her brightness. "Zefrelda came by and-"

"Woke your fairy up when I saw the kids snuggling up to you." Zefrelda finished with a smile, at least from what I could see anyway. I looked over to the kids through squinted eyes and saw them looking away.

"We just wanted to know if you where a Gerudo or not." the little girl said. "I've never seen one with brown hair and eyes before."

"Yeah." the light brown haired boy added. "You look like a Hylian, but you've got small ears. Plus you never got to tell us if you were one or not."

"We came by early in case you had to leave, but we were still a little tired and kinda fell asleep." the blonde said while scratching his head.

"Don't worry, I'm not a Gerudo." I chuckled. The feeling in my arms started to come back from them sleeping on them and cutting the circulation off. I started shaking them a little to help get rid of the numbness.

"But what about your ears?" the blonde asked. "Did something bite them off?"

"Uh, well..." I started, not sure how to explain my origins. The kids, Angi, Zefrelda, and even Ocean Roll seemed to look at me in innocent curiosity. 'If I lie I'll feel bad about it later, but it I don't it might complicate things.' "You wouldn't believe me even if I told you." I said as I threw on a grin. 'If all else fails, play the doofus.'

"I bet we would." the light brunette said. "It's not like you're from a different world or anything."

"Oh but that's just it. I am from another world." I said playfully while moving my arms around mystically. "One with metal wagons with the power of over fifty horses, glass balls that give off light, metal pipes that spit water, and thousands of creatures dominate the land." I couldn't tell what Angi's expression was but everyone else's was obvious. The blonde boy looked at me in bewilderment, the little girl stared at me blankly,the light brown haired boy gave an unbelieving stare, Zefrelda was lightly laughing, and Ocean Roll just shook his head.

"What do you have boy?" Zefrelda asked her horse as he stretched his neck back and started biting at a bag on his saddle. He neighed and snorted at the pouch and then looked at her. "There's a letter for me?" he nodded and Zefrelda walked over and began to search through it.

"You speak horse?" I asked in mild shock.

"No but a friend of mine and I share letters this way sometimes." she laughed as she pulled a letter out and read it. "Oh, it says that if I see a Gerudo with short brown hair and eyes to thank him for looking out for her.

'Must be Malon.' I thought with a smile.

"It also says to tell him that his friend has already set off for Death Mountain." she finished and looked over to me.

"Guess he got tired of waiting for us huh Tangi?" I asked my guardian as I got up.

"Well we were gone for a whole day." she said as she flew around me. "And you did tell him to go on if you took too long."

"True." I said simply as I attached the Kokiri sword to my lower back with the handle to my left and my broadsword on my back with the handle over my right shoulder. " Well its been fun, but I've got to go. It was nice meeting all of you." I waved and started to walk away.

"Wait, what are you going to do at Death Mountain?" the little girl asked. "It's close to erupting."

"I know, but I've got grown up business to help my friend with there." I waved and walked away only to have Ocean Roll walk beside me and stop in front of me. "You want to take me there?" I asked and he nodded his head. "Ha ha, you're one smart horse you know that?" he neighed happily as I climbed up. He bucked a bit but I managed to hang on. "Whoa, whoa! Calm down!"

"Perhaps it would be better for me to come along and keep him from throwing you off." Zefrelda suggested as she walked up to us. "I've got a few things I need to do in Kakariko Village anyway."

"Sounds good." I said as I helped her up so she could sit side-saddle behind me. "Off we go then." I grabbed the reigns and lightly kicked Ocean Roll's sides to get him moving. When we were near the camp my vision went black when a piece of cloth wrapped around my head. "Whoa, can't see. What gives?" I lifted my green shirt off of my eyes and let it sit on my head.

"The people, remember?" Zefrelda whispered as we made our way through. I simply nodded and steered our horse through the tents and into Hyrule field in the direction of the mountain with a fiery halo. "Is what you said really true?" she asked after a little while. I looked back at her with a questioning look as I took my green shirt off my head and tucked it into my belt. "About you being from a different world?" I tensed a little and looked forward.

"Well..." I took in a deep breath a let it out. "Kids like stories don't they?" I asked, hoping to avoid a direct answer. "I mean you saw their faces right? Seeing something like that is heartwarming."

"Yes but you said it so fluidly, like you've told the same story many times but with as much sincerety as if it were true." she said thoughtfully. We arrived at the staircase that lead to Kakariko, dismounted, and scaled the stairs to the deserted village. "You're not going to tell me are you?"

"I'll let you believe what you want to believe." I said with a grin. She let out a light sigh and walked off to a building that had a pestle and mortar on a sign. "You came here to get a potion?" I asked as I followed her to help if she needed it.

"Not a potion but the ingredients to make a few." she said as she walked in. I stayed by the door since I was planning on leaving soon. "I helped make a few potions here in my spare time to help the people who got tired or hurt. Here, let me get you one real quick." A small rumble made itself known and quickly escalated to a violent shake. It vibrated the house enough to make a few glasses fall from the shelves and shatter on the floor.

"Zefrelda get out of there!" I yelled as the shaking intensified and the wood started creaking.

"No, these ingredients are important and you could use the potion!" she called back stubbornly as she increased her pace in searching through boxes and putting different things in a nearby bag.

"You're well being is more important than a few herbs! If this shaking keeps up then you and everything else in here will be buried!" A burning rock came soaring out of the sky and landed a few yards away from me. I looked up and followed its smokey trail to the tip of Death Mountain and saw a few more shoot up. "Time's up! You can get more later!" I yelled as I ran in and grabbed her arm. "We're leaving! Now!" I pulled her with me as I ran back to the door only for a boulder to crash through the ceiling and land in front of me. With the rumbling still going on, the building was starting to creak louder and it was getting harder not to stumble. I could see and hear smaller rocks coming down and hit the roof, but luckily they weren't big enough to make it through.

"Over here!" Angi yelled as she fluttered near a shuttered window. I picked Zefrelda up as she grabbed the bag and dashed towards the window. I was about to bust out but a boulder happened to land just behind it, preventing me from being able to get through. "This one!" Angi cried as she flew to another one on the other side of the room. I ran over to it but, like the door and other window, a boulder blocked my escape by landing just outside the window. I looked around frantically for any other exits but they too where blocked by boulders of almost equal size.

"What gives? All the exits are blocked!" I yelled in frustration and fear. The rumbling was dying down but the rocks colliding with the ceiling began to hit more frequently. I looked up and went on the verge of panicking when I saw what was coming our way. From where I was, I could see a huge boulder bounding down the mountain toward us out of the hole that the first boulder made. "Oh no." I breathed out. I put Zefrelda down and ran over to the rock that was blocking the front door and started pushing it with all the strength I could muster. It was moving but the boulder tumbling down the mountain wasn't getting any slower.

"Get down!" I yelled and, on impulse, left the rock I was pushing and ran over to the blonde woman and fairy. I grabbed Angi, threw her out of the hole in the ceiling to a safe distance, brought Zefrelda in a protective embrace and braced myself for something I wasn't sure that I would survive.

~ sc ~

"Hmhmhm, that should take care of him." a flaming figure chucked darkly as it stopped throwing and pushing rocks off the top of Death Mountain. It stared down at Kakariko Village and marveled at the destruction of the building it was bombarding with rocks. "Master will be pleased to hear of my actions." With one final gaze down at the rock riddled building, it turned and dove into the lava of Death Mountain.

~ sc ~

The once potion shop was reduced to dust, debris, and surrounded by rocks. The dust was partially illuminated by the few wooden boards that were on fire and the glow of an orange fairy that was floating around.

"Josh! Zefrelda!" she called frantically as she flew around the pile of wooden planks. "Oh please be okay!" The sound of coughing filled the air which made the fairy come to an abrupt stop. She quickly flew to the area she heard the coughing and began to search around. "Josh! Zefrelda! If you can hear me, make a sound!"

"O-over here!" a woman called out but was soon followed by more coughing.

"Man," I coughed out. "Dusty." I looked around but saw nothing but dust floating around and a few planks that were on fire from having contact with the few burning rocks. I leaned back a little from my kneeling position so I could look down and see how Zefrelda was. "You alright?" I asked her as I looked her over to make sure she was okay. It may have been from all of the dust that I breathed in, but for a split second her red eyes looked to be a beautiful sky blue.

"Are you two-" Angi stopped once she saw the way we were. At first glance, one would think I was about to confess my love to the woman I had just shielded from some big explosion. "Oh, am I interrupting something?" she teased. Zefrelda and I both looked at the fairy and then to each other. Despite us both knowing what just happened and why we were like the way we were, a little bit of red made its way on our cheeks.

"No but you missed a cool light show." I said as I threw on an awkward grin. "Zefrelda's really good with magic." I picked her up getting a small gasp and making her wrap her arms around my neck. "She managed to put up a barrier at the last second and kept us from getting crushed. That boulder would've landed right on top of us but it split once it touched the blue wall." I stepped out of the small diamond shaped clearing we were in and walked up the rubble.

"I can walk, I'm fine." Zefrelda said as she clutched the bag that had her supplies with one arm and had her other arm around me.

"I believe you but it's not safe for a lady to climb rocks in high heels and a sun dress." I chuckled as I walked over to the well near the center of the village and gently set her down. "Plus I don't want you to push yourself. That barrier must've taken a lot out of you because you're paler than before." Her usual light tan was now more of a fair skinned complexion. I pulled my bottle out of my pocket and filled it with water. "Here." I said as I held it out to her. She took it gratefully and drank it down.

"Thanks." she said once she finished and gave the bottle back. I smiled and filled it back up for my on little drink.

"Glad to help." I said as I filled it back up and put it away for later. "I hope you got everything you needed." I looked over to what was left of the building we were in a few minutes ago. "Because it looks like you won't be using that place for a while. Ha, the potion maker's gonna have a cow when she see's that." Zefrelda winced at the mention of the old lady's reaction.

"Yes I got everything I needed." she said with a sigh. "But Granny Sweetwater is not going to like this. Most of her specialties were in there."

"Hey, at least we made it out unscathed right? That's the important thing" I said hoping to cheer her up a bit. "Buildings can be rebuilt, stocks can be restocked, but lives can't be relived."

"Your right." she said with a smile as she got up. "It's not too hard to get herbs and frog eyes. In fact, the alchemist at Lake Hylia usually has things to spare."

"Riiight, but you should rest up." I said as I brushed the dust off of my clothes. "It's when people think they're fine after a situation they usually overdo it and suffer for it later."

"I'll be fine." she urged as she brushed the dust off of her blue sleeveless dress and bag. "I've been much more tired than this before." I let out a heavy sigh.

"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you." I shook my head to get the dust out of my hair and began walking towards Death Mountain Trail with Angi in tow. "Anyway, I've got to go make sure Link doesn't hurt himself. Be careful going back." I called as I waved to her.

"You be careful too. Oh, and remember to hide your ears. The Gorons had problems with that man that looks like you." she warned as she started putting out the few embers of the building that lingered.

"Ha, I'm always careful." I laughed but tripped over a board that happened to be in my way and face planted on the grass. "Ow... I meant to do that." Angi and Zefrelda laughed as I got back up and continued towards the trail. On my way to the gate, I took my green shirt off of my belt and tied it into a partial bandana but stopped when a chill ran up my spine. I looked over to the path that lead to the graveyard and caught a glimpse of something that usually doesn't happen. Two red orbs were floating in the shadow of a tree but quickly disappeared. "Tangi, I want you to stay with Zefrelda for a bit." I whispered to the fairy.

"Why?" she whispered back. "She looked fine to me. If you ask me she seems to be able to use magic very well."

"I'm not worried about her being fatigued, because like you said, she looked fine other than being a little pale." I stared at the shadows that the red orbs were for a few moments. "I just get the feeling that something else is here." She followed my gaze and watched the shadows but nothing else appeared.

"Alright but I'm coming back to you in a few minutes." she said as she flew back into the village.

"Thanks Tangi." I called and walked passed the gate. "I'll see you in a few minutes then." After a little ways up the trail, two four-legged, spider-crab things noticed me and started jumping my way. I drew my broadsword and prepared to cut them down. I brought my sword down hard on the first one and effectively cleaved the one-eyed creature in two. It collapsed and let out a dying screech as its legs popped off and burned to nothing in blue fire. Its partner's eye changed to a darker red and the crustaceous spider charged at me. Unfortunately, I had overestimated how much strength I needed to kill the first one, and ended up wedging my blade in-between two rocks that happened to be under the first when I brought my blade down.

"Perfeeect." I said sarcastically as I watched the other tectite bound towards me while I struggled to free my sword from the stone. When it was five feet away from me, a rock came out of nowhere and crushed the red spider crab. However, It didn't stop there. The boulder kept rolling over everything in its path, me included. "Freakin rocks." I muttered as I got up and picked my sword up that was knocked out of the crevice. "At least my sword's free now." I sheathed it and continued up the path to Goron City in hopes of finding Link there. I ran passed a few more tectites and met a fork in the path marked by a flag post. I took the path that had an arrow sign, which I assumed said 'Goron City that-a-way', and was met with a rock that was identical to the one that ran over me and the tectite earlier, coming my way. I simply stepped to the side expecting it to go right passed me but it mimiced my moves. I moved to the side a little more but it did the same and wasn't slowing down.

"Ah bull!" I cried as I ran with it right behind me. I ran back up the incline that lead to Goron City but the boulder actually followed me up the slope and was still catching up. "Ah!" I let out in slight pain as it slammed and rolled over me. "Freakin Gorons." I muttered as I spit sand out of my mouth from the sand pit that I happen to be over when the rock creature hit me. I picked myself up and brushed the sand off of me. I looked down and saw a perfect imprint of my face and sent a glare at the rolling Goron.

"I'd say that's an improvement." a high pitched voice said from nowhere. I looked around for the orange owner but couldn't see her. "Behind you." she giggled.

"Ah!" I let out when I turned around and saw an orange light right in front of my face. "Hi Tangi."

"I leave you for ten minutes and already you're getting rolled on by Gorons." she said while holding back another giggle. "Where would you be with out me?"

"Probably still be stuck in the Lost Woods." I said with a grin. "And what do mean by 'improvement?' I thought you said I was good looking back when we saved Zefrelda."

"I didn't say you were good looking. I asked how you would feel if a good looking person saved you from being eaten." she said as she sat down on my left shoulder.

"... That's cold Tangi." I pouted making her giggle. We walked passed the useless platform with a ring of rocks and into Goron City. We were met with the sight of a large, multilayered crater with tunnels that lead to areas I didn't feel like exploring, and a middle stone platform hanging over the crater by three ropes. An explosion echoed throughout the cavern and made both me and Angi jump. I ran to the edge of my level and looked down to see a small boulder rolling around a few levels below. On the same level of the rolling boulder, I saw a blue fairy and a green clad teenager chasing the boulder with a black and red flashing ball above his head. He threw the ball and a few seconds into the air, it let out a loud explosion and a cloud of smoke.

"You're suppose to throw it before it explodes on you." the blue fairy coughed out from the smoke.

"Looks like he did to me." I laughed as I dropped down to their level. Link looked at me and drew his weapons. "Whoa! Whoa! It's me!" I yelled as I held up my hands defensively. He smiled and put his sword and shield away but gave me a questioning look when he saw my green shirt wrapped around my head. "What?" I asked and he pointed to my head. "Oh that? Just hiding my ears." I took it off and tucked it into my belt since it was coming off anyway due to that second Goron running my face into the sand. "You know, the whole Gerudo thing."

"AAAHHH! GERUDO!" the boulder screamed as it came closer to us. "DON'T TAKE ME AWAY!" It turned around and rolled away from us.

"Yeah that." I muttered as I pointed my thumb at the retreating rock.

"Oh thanks a lot." Navi half yelled, clearly agitated. "We've been trying to get him to stop for over twenty minutes!" She flew up to me and circled around a few times. "By the way, where did you get your new equipment."

"Oh a few errands." I said with a shrug. "Delivered the saw, saved a woman from a wolfos, fought some magic Gerudo, fought a guard, destroyed a few skeletons, nothing I'm sure you haven't done." Link and Navi just stared at me in astonishment. "So how was your little break wi- Oof!"

"Take that evil Gerudo!" the little Goron yelled as he slammed into my back and knocked me to the ground. He got off of me and rolled away once Link made a grab for him. I got up with a grunt and glared at the stony hedgehog... creature... thing.

"It's on now! Link you chase after him and I'll cut him off!" he nodded and we ran off in opposite directions, leaving our fairies behind.

"What all did you two do?" Navi asked Angi once Link and I were far enough away to not hear them. "Josh seems, I don't know, different."

"So I wasn't just feeling things." the orange fairy said thoughtfully. "It happened after he did the final blow on that stalfos in Hyrule Field."

"What? In Hyrule Field?" Navi asked in shock getting a nod in response.

"Yes but it was different than the usual ones. In fact, it felt similar to the man we encountered at Lake Hylia." Angi said as she watched me and Link jump for the little Goron but ended up colliding with each other in the air. "Ever since the purple particles of the stalfos went into his sword and burned his hand, Josh has had a strange feel to him. It's like that monster marked him with some magic." Explosions echoed throughout the city, startling Angi and Navi since they were so caught up in their conversation. Link and I were fed up with chasing and cornering the little rock creature, only for it to ram into us, usually me, and make it around us so we resulted to doing what we were suppose to do and throw bombs at him.

"For the last time I'm not Ganondorf's servant!" I yelled in frustration as I threw my tenth bomb flower at the rolling Goron. Link had run out of bombs while he and Navi were here so that's all we had to use. I let out an aggravated sigh since my bomb flower had once again missed. "Tangi help us out over here a little!" I called pleadingly. I'm a pretty patient guy but this is just ridiculous, throwing bomb flowers at a small rolling rock that rams into me every chance it gets.

"What am I suppose to do?" she asked as she and Navi flew over to me and Link.

"I don't know talk some sense into him or something." I said as I threw another bomb flower that exploded three feet from my face. "He won't listen to me or Link so I was hoping that you'd be able to talk to him."

"And what makes you think that he'll listen to me?" she asked.

"Because Link's a mute, I look like a Gerudo, which he seems to hate my guts for, and we've been throwing bombs at him for the past... I don't know how long." I said with a sigh. "We've caught him a few times but he wouldn't listen. He then smacked us both in the face and started rolling again." Link nodded and rubbed his jaw.

"Alright, we'll see what we can do." Angi said as she and Navi flew off to the other side of the crater where the Goron was sitting.

"WHAT? REALLY?" he cried excitedly after a few minutes of talking with the fairies. He curled into a ball and rolled over to me and Link faster than you can say... a really long word. At the rate he was going, it looked like he was going to take us out like bowling pins but skidded to a halt right before he reached us. He bounced up and popped out of his ball and looked at Link with sparkling eyes. "Are you really the legendary Dodongo Buster and Hero Link?" Link slowly nodded his head and the little Goron started to jump around in glee. Unfortunately for me, he happened to land on my foot during his happy dance. I let out a yelp of pain and joined him in his prancing around, only mine was much less joyful. "Can I have an autograph? Sign it, 'To my friend, Link of the Gorons.'"

"Not to be an ass," I said through clenched teeth while still holding my foot. "But I think there are more important matters than an autograph."

"Oh, yes! You must help them!" he said as he ran up to Link and grabbed his tunic. "You need to help my dad defeat the evil that's in the Fire Temple! If you don't..." he trailed off and tears came to his eyes. "E-even he'll be eaten' by the d-dragon! Waaaaahaaaaaa!" he sobbed and started wiping the tears that rolled down his face.

"Hey don't worry about your dad kid." I said as I kneeled down beside him after the pain in my foot subsided. "We'll go in there and help take care of that dragon." He looked up at me in fear, anger, but most of all, confusion.

"B-But you're part of the reason all this happened!" he said as he pointed an accusing finger at me. "You helped revive Volvagia and imprisoned the Gorons!" I let out a sigh and looked away.

"He's not the bad guy though!" Tangi said as she flew in-between me and the Goron.

"But they look almost exactly the same!" the Goron yelled while still pointing at me.

"That's just it. They look the same but are completely different!" the orange fairy said making a smile grow on my face.

"Well... if the fairy says you're nice, than you must be a different person." he said but started sobbing again. "I-I'm sorry. With all that's happened I thought everyone was a servant of Ganondorf."

"Hey, cut the water works." I said comfortingly. "We're gonna go in there and bring the Gorons back." Link put on a confident smile and nodded.

"But you can't go in like that." he said as he rolled into a ball. "Follow me! I'll give you something that'll let you go in!" he rolled off the level we we were on and went to the bottom of the city. Link and I followed him to the lower level and the Goron pushed a panel in the wall that made two doors sink into the floor. He took us into the room with a large Goron statue against the wall. "Let's see, it should be around here somewhere." He said as he searched through shelves, pots, and cabinets. "Ah here it is!" he pulled out two red pieces of cloth, one a tunic and the other a matching hat, and handed them to Link. "It's heat resistant so when you wear it you can even walk around Death Mountain Crater with no problem!" he yelled with excitement getting a smile from Link. "But I only had that one." he said as he looked at me sadly.

"I think I'll be fine." I said with a smile after a moment of thought. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy. Link even paused in taking his equipment off so he could change tunics to look at me.

"But there's lava everywhere. No Hylian or Gerudo can go in there without any protection from the heat." the Goron said after he recovered.

"I know but I've got all the protection I need." I said as I patted my chest, or rather the golden necklace under my shirt.

"That's right, Zelda's necklace is magical but... how do you know it'll protect you from the heat?" Angi asked as she flew around me.

"I don't." I said with a shrug. "But I'm pretty sure I'll be fine. If I can't bare the heat I can always leave." Angi nodded and a green piece of cloth collided with my face. I pulled it off and looked at Link questioningly as I held the Kokiri tunic in my hands. "What gives? You're not going to put it away in your pack?" he shook his head and pointed at me.

"It's not much but the Kokiri tunic has a little magic in it. That's why it still fits Link even after seven years. It adjusts itself so it fits comfortably on the persons body." Navi said as she flew around the now Goron tunic fitted Link, which surprisingly fit him perfectly.

"So it's a one-size-fits-all kinda thing?" I asked getting a nod from her. "Alright, cool. Thanks." I began taking off my swords and shoulder armor so I could slip the tunic on over my white shirt.

"The entrance to the Fire Temple is behind this statue." the little Goron said as he began to walk out of the room. "Be careful and please save everyone!"

"Will do!" I called as I began to put my equipment back on. I strapped my belt and the Kokiri sword over the tunic like usual, strapped my leather shoulder guard back on my left shoulder, made sure my forearm guard was snugly fit on my left arm, made sure my right bow glove was fit snugly as well, and finally attached my broadsword on my back. I gave Link the green hat since I didn't think I'd need it and discarded my torn green T-shirt I had when I began this adventure. "Ready Link?" I asked as we both got a good grip on the statue. He nodded and we both pulled the stone Goron away from the wall, allowing a heat wave to invade the room. "Phew, this is gonna be one hell of a trip." I said as we walked into the tunnel and into Death Mountain Crater.

* * *

I hope it turned out alright. A lot can come from a few changes, but I plan to keep a few things about the same.

Leave a review on how you like it so far! It'll make me feel better about this and possibly speed things up a bit!


	10. The Fire Sage and Brimstone

This one's going to be a liiitle bit longer than the previous chapters, mostly since i didn't want to end it in the middle of the dungeon. I may have gone a little overboard with the progess of it but the end will hopefully make up for it.

I like the hits that I've gotten but I'm still wanting to hear from all of you to see how I'm doing. Well... enjoy!

* * *

"Geez! It's hotter than being in a burning building in the middle of Summer!" I complained as I wiped my forehead. We weren't even in there for two minutes and I was already sweating like crazy.

"Well we are in the center of an active volcano." Navi pointed out.

"I don't care, it's still hot." I said as we made our way to a broken wooden bridge. "And how does this thing not catch on fire?" Link simply shrugged and pulled out his hookshot. He aimed and shot the grappling spike at the wooden post hanging above the stable part of the bridge. He pulled himself over to it and landed on the wooden planks after pulling the hookshot out of the post. He turned around and aimed at the post next to me and fired the spike again. He pressed the trigger so it would retract, but purposefully let the handle fly out of his hand so I could use it. I reached around the post and pried it out of the unburnable wood. I let out a low whistle when I noticed the relatively long drop to the lava below.

"Oh it's not that high." Angi giggled at my slight hesitation. "At least not near as high as Gerudo Valley."

"It's not the drop that's getting to me." I said as I aimed the hookshot at the same post Link used. "It's the boiling lake of lava that's under the rickety bridge I'm about to land on." I fired off the spike and made it pull me over once it connected. I pulled it out of the post and landed just behind Link so as not to knock him off. The bridge wasn't all that wide but it was much sturdier than it looked. I handed Link the hookshot and we made our way to the stone platform, only to be stopped by Sheik who seemed to drop out of nowhere.

"It is something that grows over time... a true friendship." the ninja said as she walked towards us. "A feeling in the heart that becomes even stronger over time..." She looked at Link and then to me. "The passion of friendship will soon blossom into a righteous power, and through it, you will know which way to go."

"This power you're talking about," I said as I took up a thinking pose. "Would it happen to be love?" Sheik didn't say or do anything so I continued. "I mean I know there's different types of love. Like the love for a type of food, the love of being at a certain place, the love of being with someone special, the love of being with family..." I trailed off a bit sadly at the end but quickly perked up once I noticed them all staring at me. "What? A guy can't understand a little poetry?"

"Hmhm, yes I speak of the love that individuals share amongst each other." she chuckled through her muffler. "Whether it be true love or love from respect, one's resolve can strengthen dramatically for one they care for." She pulled a small harp out from behind her and plucked a few strings to test its tune. "This song is dedicated to the power of the heart... Listen to the Bolero of Fire." Sheik played a few notes to get Link started but I hummed along from the beginning. Link pulled out the Ocarina of Time and followed along with us. I'm no expert in music, but I could tell Sheik was falling a teensy bit off of the rhythm. I looked over to her and could see beads of sweat on her brow. Not only that, but her breathing seemed a bit fast and her hair looked damp.

"You know something Sheik?" I asked getting her and Link to look at me, although they continued to play. "You look really hot in that outfit." Sheik missed her intended string and Link blew hard in his instrument out of surprise. "It's gotta be uncomfortable."

"What are you suggesting?" she asked after a moment of collecting herself. The little of her cheeks that I could see were red, but that was probably due to the ridiculous heat emitting from the lava below.

"I'm suggesting that you get your butt out of here before you fry." I said as I sent her a stern look but soon changed to a grin. "I don't want to have to carry you out of here." She responded with a simple nod.

"Link, Josh... be careful and don't hesitate to take a break if you feel like you need to." She said as she backed up and a wall of fire sprung up in her place. I put my hand up to help shield my face from the heat. "I'll see you again." I heard her say as she backed further away from the flames. She threw down a deku nut and everyone who saw the flash went blind for a few seconds. With my hand up, I wasn't completely blinded and caught a glimpse of her disappearing in a faint green light as the wall of fire died down.

"What is it with her and deku nuts?" I asked as I rubbed my eyes to help clear my vision. "I mean it's not like we're gonna follow her."

"Her?" Navi asked once her vision came back. "Don't you mean him?" Link nodded to show that he agreed that Sheik was a man too.

"No." I said simply as we walked off of the bridge and headed towards the Fire Temple entrance. "Sheik's a girl."

"No he's not." Navi argured. "There's no way he could be a girl. He doesn't look anything like one."

"That's because her clothes are really tight and hold everything in You saw her from a distance with heat distorting your vision so you couldn't tell anyway." I said not bothering to look at her as we passed the marble platform that had the Fire Medallion's insignia on it. "Plus no guy can have pants that tight and still have a voice that deep."

"I still don't believe you, and even if HIS pants are that tight, he has a muffler." the blue orb said as she flew around us.

"Well why don't you ask HER the next time we see HER?" I asked as I hopped down the opening that lead to the Fire Temple. "Oh craaaaap!" Turns out the Fire Temple was actually really deep in Death Mountain and this passage, or drop, marked the beginning of it. I was too busy worrying about my landing that I didn't notice the ladder on the wall that I was rushing by. I landed on the ground feet first but the collision sent a not too pleasant shock up my body. I looked up when I heard a yell coming from above me but my face was, again, covered by a white cloth.

"I've got a question for you." I said calmly once Link got off of me. "Does my face have a sign that says 'Place butt here for fall breaker.' on it?" Link shook his head and held his hand out to me. "Then why do you keep putting your freakin tooshie there every time you jump from a high place?" Link helped me up and looked to Navi so she would answer.

"Because you happen to be under him and look up ever time." the blue fairy said. I held up a finger to argue but realized the annoying truth... she was right.

"Just let me know if you're gonna jump on my head again or at least give me time to move before you leap." I sighed and walked into a large chamber with three stone faces with fire inside at the top of a large staircase. We made our way up the staircase and went to the door on the left since it was the only way we could go. I grabbed the handle to open the door but quickly released it and clutched my left hand.

"Sweet mother of a hamster nugget!" I sputtered out to prevent myself from saying the not so pleasant phrase I was about to say. "Whoooooowee that's hot!" I cried out while shaking and blowing on it to help relieve the pain. "Okay Link, let me use the Kokiri hat. I get the feeling that I'm gonna need to use both of my hands and only my right has a glove." He nodded and reached into his 'magic' pouch on his belt with one hand and opened the door with his other. He tossed the green cloth to me as he walked through the door and I followed him as I wrapped it around my hand to keep my burn from being messed with, as well as help protect my hand from anything else.

"Who is there?" a deep, masculine voice asked as we walked into a room with a few platforms along the walls surrounded by lava. "Link? Haha you've grown so much since I last saw you!" the muscular Goron with spiky, partially balding hair cried cheerfully but then put on a serious expression. "I'd love to have a man-to-man talk but-" his eyes widened when he saw me. "Move brother!" he yelled angrily as he jumped over the gap that separated our platform from his.

'Oh sh-' I couldn't even finish my thought before I had to move or get hit by the heavy fist that was sent my way. Link jumped to the left platform and I dove to the right one since it was closer to me. I made it, but due to my hasty get away, I didn't have enough time to get a good jump and everything below my shoulders was dangling over the pit of molten rock. I looked over my shoulder and saw the Goron shaking his hand from making a large crack where I was standing a few seconds ago. He glared at me and growled out of pain from hitting the ground so hard, but mostly out of frustration from missing me.

"Grr, filthy servant of Ganondorf!" he growled angrily and jumped over to my platform and glared even harder at me as I hung below him. "Because of you, Death Mountain has been overrun by evil and Volvagia has been revived." he lifted his foot up and I glanced back at the first platform to judge its distance. Unfortunately it was a little too far for me to reach it from my hanging position.

"With you gone some peace will come back to our home!" he brought his foot down and I was expecting my head to turn into a pancake. What I wasn't expecting, though very grateful, was for Link to jump over to us and tackle the Goron to the ground. "What are you doing brother?"

"I'm not who you think I am." I said as I pulled myself up and shook my right hand to try to get rid of the tingling sensation that started up ever since I entered the room. "Believe it or not, I'm a bodyguard of Princess Zelda's and I'm helping Link take on Ganondorf. Well, with what I can at least. I'm also here to clean up the mess the guy who looks like me has done."

"You expect me to believe that?" he laughed as he tossed Link off of him and got up. He stood to my height and glared at me.

"No but Link just saved me and Zelda gave me this necklace for keeping her safe." I said as I pulled my necklace out from under my shirts and showed it to him. Link nodded and walked in front of me. I also got myself ready to make a break for it if needed.

"Hmm, well if Link is willing to stand against me to protect you then there must be some truth in what you're saying." he said thoughtfully as he crossed his arms. "That being said, I would like to request something of you two."

"And what might that be?" I asked as I put my necklace back under my shirts.

"While I, Darunia, the leader of the Gorons take on the evil dragon," the Goron leader started as he made his way over to the platform with the large locked door, "I want you two to free my people."

"And let you take on Volvagia by yourself?" I asked in surprise as he unlocked the door that lead to Volvagia's room. "That's crazy!"

"Yes. Though I am concerned that I do not have the legendary hammer, I have no choice but to try and seal Volvagia away." He lifted the door and gave us one final look. "Link I ask you this as a sworn brother. And you protector of Princess Zelda, If you are what you say you are then help release my people and protect my brother." Link and I both nodded earning a smile from him. "Then be careful and make haste!" he cried as if he were excited and slammed the door shut... hard.

"Guess we'd better get to work if we want to help him." I said as I jumped back over to the platform that we came in on. "Hey look. There's a barred door over there." I pointed to the prison looking area by the far corner and then to the switch next to it. "That switch should open that door. Go check if a Goron is in there." he looked at me with a questioning look. "What? You expect me to release the Gorons after seeing Darunia's reaction to me? I'll wait for you at the locked door."

He nodded and made his way over to the small prison and pressed the switch as I walked back into the main area. As I passed the middle of the three large stone heads, their fires seemed to dim to nothing and my hand just gone done with its tingling feeling.

"Weird." I muttered I looked over at them. Suddenly they came back and seemed to be redder and more lively than your average flame. I walked a little closer and watched the fire dance for a moment. The two side flames went back to normal but the middle flame seemed to take the shape of a woman with long hair dancing in the fire.

I was so mesmerized by the fire that I didn't notice a Goron walk into the room through the door that lead to the room we met Daurnia in. I also didn't notice it let out an unusual squeal of fear, roll into a ball, and crash into the wall next to the exit before it realized that it needed to climb up the ladder. The dancing flame swivelled, spun, and jumped before ending the performance with a bow. I chuckled and lightly clapped at the mini performance that appeared in the fire. The woman then appeared to beckon me with her arms.

"HEY!" a girl screamed in my ear making my jump to the side. "Stop staring at the fire and let's go!"

"Can you scream any louder?" I half-yelled to the blue orb that just caused my right ear to ring like a telephone's company's products working all at once. "The door's not even-" the sound of chains hitting the floor caught my attention. I looked over and saw Link toss a broken key to the side and open the now unlocked door. He beckoned for me to follow him and I nodded. "Gimme a sec I want to check something out real quick." he nodded and walked through when Navi flew over to him.

"Is something bothering you Josh?" Angi asked after a small dying screech was heard. I looked up to where her voice came from and saw a keese slowly falling towards the floor. "You were staring at the fire so intently that you didn't notice te fire keese coming towards you, or even when that Goron was crashing into the wall trying to run from you." she giggled a little at the end. I rubbed my eyes and looked back at the stone face to see that its fire had gone back to normal.

"Call me crazy, but I was watching a woman dance in the fire." I said as I rubbed my still ringing ear. "When I passed these faces the three fires got redder and more lively. A few seconds later, the middle one looked like some of it took the shape of a great dancer. Once it stopped dancing it bowed and I couldn't help but give it a small applause. After that it looked like it wanted to tell me something. It beckoned for me to go near it but Navi nearly made me go deaf. When I looked back it was gone like nothing happened." The whole time I was explaining, Angi was simply floating in front of my face. 'Greeaat she thinks I've gone coo coo. Then again I'm in a different world with magic so it'll probably happen if it hasn't already.'

"Well I did notice that it got a little brighter in here, but I was busy keeping the fire keese away from you to notice anything else." she said as she flew over to the door Link and Navi went through. I blinked for a second and then a wide grin made its way on my face.

"Have I ever mentioned how awesome you are?" I asked as I walked over to her and opened the door.

"Yes but you could mention it more often." she giggled making me laugh. We were about to go through the doorway but a Goron barged through and knocked me to the ground. It took one look at me, let out a squeal you wouldn't think a Goron would be able to do, and repeated the same thing the first Goron did by running into the wall before realizing it had to climb up the ladder. "Popular aren't you?"

"Tch, yeah." I muttered as I got up. "Anyway let's catch up to them before we lose 'em." We went through and noticed the sound of a door shuting in the huge room with a lake of lava. "You know, all this lava isn't what you would call a comforting sight." I said as I jumped across the gap in the broken bridge and ran to the door that I thought Link went through.

"But we're in a volcano so of course we're going to see lava." Angi called as she kept the fire keese away from me.

"Haha, you are so much better than Navi!" I cheered as I went through the door and slid down a wooden plank that lead to a larger rock surrounded by a cage. I stopped just before a lava geyser in the middle of the room. Before I could do anything, lava shot out of the geyser and through a square hole above us. I followed the stream up and noticed a large stone block on a platform above me. I walked over to the cage and hesitantly grabbed it. After making sure it wouldn't burn me I carefully climbed up.

"Watch out more keese!" Angi called as some bats started flying around when I came close to the top of the cage. I stopped and slashed a few that came close to me but it was pretty difficult to keep my grip on the cage and swing the Kokiri sword with a burnt hand, even if it was minor and was covered. Luckily Angi was able to keep them away from me enough to get on top of the cage safely and drop down to the block. Knowing that I was safe from falling, the orange fairy let them get close to me so I could slash them down.

"Thanks a lot Tangi." I said happily as I sheathed my sword. I put my left shoulder to the block since I didn't know if it was hot or not and pushed. It was a heavy and slow load, but I managed to get it to the edge of the platform and drop on the geyser with a loud thud. Not five seconds after it landed, it shot up and I quickly hopped on it to be taken up to a tiled room. I jumped off of the block when it stopped and watched as it dropped back down. "Wow, long way down. Aw come on!" I let out when I noticed the only way other way out of this room was through a locked door.

"Guess we have to go ALL the way down." Angi giggled as she hovered over the hole and looked down.

"We're not going anywhere." I said as I crossed my arms and sat down. "I'm gonna wait right here for Link to come with the key."

"But this place is so huge." the orange orb whined as she landed on my shoulder. "It could take forever before-." she stopped and flew over the hole again.

"Something wrong?" I asked getting a little worried.

"No, I can hear Navi talking to Link." she said as she fluttered around.

"Don't have to listen too hard to hear her nagging." I muttered getting a giggle from my fairy. "Guess we'll be moving on faster than you thought huh?" I asked with a grin and got a nod from her. A few moments later Link came up on the block elevator and unlocked the door. "Took you long enough." I joked as we walked through the door and into another large room with an imprisoned Goron in front of us. We left him alone since I didn't want to scare it half to death and there was no switch in sight. We ignored the two fire slug creatures as we climbed and jumped to a ledge that had a diamond-like switch and a large stone block with a star connecting the edges of a crescent moon together.

"What's the Gerudo's symbol doing here?" Navi asked as Link and I walked up to it to push it off so we would have more space on our ledge. I put my hands on it and started pushing but my right hand started tingling a little once it made contact with the cool stone.

"Probably because Ganondorf messed with the temple." I grunted out as we pushed it over the edge. "Weird." I muttered as I flexed my hand and looked at it when the sensation stopped after breaking contact with the block. "Did your hand start tingling when you touched it?" I asked Link but he simply shook his head. "Hm, guess the heat's starting to get to me." I turned around and looked at the switch. "Wonder what this does." I kicked it and the crackling of fire stopped, followed by the sound of ticking from the switch.

"Hey a ring of fire stopped near a wall you can climb up." Navi said once she found out what it was used for.

"Yeah that switch you kicked turned the fire off." Angi added. "But its about to come back! Hurry so you can climb it!" I kneeled down and gave Link a boost so he could climb up. He laid down once he was on the ledge and held his hand down to help me up. Luckily we managed to make it in time but the metal was still pretty hot from the ring of fire. We scaled the wall and went through a door that lead to a room with multiple corridors with boulders rolling around. Not wanting to get turned into road-kill, I gave Link a boost and he helped me up onto the pillars so we'd have a better view.

"Look!" Navi said once we came close to a damaged floor. "It looks like an explosion could open this." Link nodded and pulled a bomb out of his pack. Only these weren't the size of his head like I thought they'd be. They were more of the size of grenades but didn't lack any power since the large square was now falling to the bottom of the drop.

"How about I check out what's down there while you look around up here." I suggested and got a nod from him. I carefully climbed down so as not to aggravate my burn more than I have already. I peeked around the corner and saw that it had its head down, sleeping from what I assumed. I let out a sigh, walked forward and stepped on the switch with the Gerudo symbol which opened the cell doors in front and behind the Goron. At the sound of the metal moving, the Goron popped its head up and looked around. The rock creature froze when it saw me and started shaking in fear.

"Please no!" he pleaded as he dove forward and landed at my feet making me step back in surprise. "I'm too young to be fed to Volvagia!" It was kinda hard to see to see a creature about the same height as me and almost twice my stature crying like a baby at my feet in fear.

"Listen, I'm here to release you not take you to get eaten." I said awkwardly but he curled up into the feeble position and started sucking his thumb. Angi flew up to my and lightly smacked my head.

"Don't mention Volvagia when you're around them." she said but the Goron wailed out again at the mention of the dragon. I sent an accusing glance her way and she looked away. "How can a strong-willed Goron turn into a whining baby?" It was clear that the Goron's crying was getting on her nerves.

"F-first it was the continuos bad jokes." he sobbed after he pulled his thumb out of his mouth. "T-then it was never ending puppet shows." I shared an unbelieving glance with Angi. "N-now that I think about it. B-being eaten might not be so b-bad." I sighed and shook my head in partial disappointment. I drew my broadsword and slammed the tip into the stone floor, effectively getting the crying Goron's attention.

"Get up and stop crying." I commanded sternly. I usually don't take an aggressive role, but I was getting annoyed and we were getting nowhere fast. To my surprise he actually stood up and wiped his eyes, but still let out a few sobs. "The Gorons are suppose to be a strong and proud race. Not a bunch of babies that cry from a few bad jokes and puppet shows! Darunia's taking Volvagia on right now and I'm wasting time talking to a Goron that could turn me into a bloody mess if he wanted to."

"But he should have the legendary hammer so he should be fine." the Goron said as he calmed down a little. I crossed my arms and shook my head. "You mean he's taking on the dragon without the hammer?" I nodded. "But he'll die!"

"That's what I told him, but he told me and your hero, Link, to save his people while he tried to seal away Volvagia." I said with a sigh. "He's fighting to give us time to release the imprisoned Gorons so they don't get eaten and you're crying because of some puppet shows and bad jokes. You're all brothers aren't you? Brothers are suppose to look out for and help each other." I said, knowing I was pushing the emotional boundary a bit but he needed to snap out of it.

"You're right!" the Goron said as he straightened up and puffed out his chest. "We need to look out for our brothers and sisters! We can't depend on the hero to save us all the time, we need to be able to fix our own problems." he walked over to me and pulled me into an almost bone-crushing embrace. "What's your name?"

"Josh." I choked out while struggling for air. "And I'm not a Gerudo." I added once he released me.

"So you're a Hylian with short ears?" he asked as he walked towards the caged wall..

"Something like that." I said with a shrug while rolling my arms and neck to make sure they were in place. He nodded with a thoughtful expression.

"Ah I see, your mother must have been a rouge Gerudo and left with your Hylian father." he said while nodding at his on conclusion.

"Uh... sure." I said half-heartedly at his accusation. 'That actually sounds pretty believable. I think I'll stick with that if someone asks me what I am.'

"Well then Josh." he said happily as he crossed his arms. "I'm Sharlin."

"That sounds more of a... feminie name to me." I said cautiously, not wanting to get pounded if he was sensitive about his name.

"That's because it is." he said with a smile.

"So you're..." I trailed off half pointing to the goron.

"Yep, a female!" she laughed. My mouth hung open a bit at the realization. The only thing I could place as a feminine trait would be the big nipples and no hair on the face. Other than that, the male and female Gorons were pretty much the same. Then again, I never bothered to look for big details about the Gorons' features and I don't exactly plan to either. "But on a serious note, leave my brothers and sisters to me. You and the hero find the legendary hammer and help Darunia!" she called as she climbed up the caged wall. "And I'll open all the doors I can for you."

"Heh cool." I laughed as I made my way over to the cage and started climbing up. "That'll make this a whole lot easier." I pulled myself up and jumped over to the first door I saw. I went through and entered another room with a large lake of lava. Only this one had a metal bridge that looked like a grating you would see on a grill. I looked around and noticed a door that was taken clean off its hinges on a ledge that was near the middle of the room. "Wow, Sharlin works fast." I said as I jumped down onto the bridge. Once I landed, the room seemed to get hotter. "Did the room just get hotter?" I asked as I started walking forward.

"A wall of fire is coming our way! Run!" Angi screamed once she looked behind us.

"Oh crap!" I ran forward and was almost knocked off of the bridge by a flaming skull jumping out of the lava and almost slamming into my chest. I managed to stop and twist out of the way to keep my momentum so I could jump to the ledge with the broken door. I grabbed the ledge and pulled myself up just as the fire reached my feet. "Phew, that was close." I sighed as I bushed some of the ruble off of me. I walked through the rocky tunnel in front of me and into a large room with lots of posts that had fire spring up in-between them. "Stupid maze." I muttered as I slowly progressed through to another busted door. "I think it's safe to say that Sharlin has already been here."

"Yeah she already released the Goron that was in here." Angi agreed as we went passed an open cell and into the other half of the fire maze room. What immediately caught my attention was the humongous wall of fire sealing off a stone door and a switch close to it. I made my way to the switch and stepped on it to quell the massive flames. I ran to the door with a few seconds to spare but a loud explosion could be heard on the other side to the door. "What was that?" Angi cried in surprise.

"A bomb maybe?" I suggested as I cautiously lifted the stone door and walked into a room filled with smoke. "What the heck happened in here?" I asked as I dropped down to be out of the smoke.

"The flare dancer exploded." a blue fairy coughed out as the smoke began to clear. Link coughed a few times and climbed up on the block elevator in the middle of the room and rode it to a room that had a spiral staircase that lead to a treasure chest surrounded by fire.

"Hmm, big chest that's hard to get to and protected by a ring of fire. Must be important." I said as we walked over to a pressure switch with the Gerudo moon and star. "You go ahead I'll press it." he nodded and carefully balanced on the narrow staircase to the treasure chest. Once he was at the fire, I stepped on the switch and made the flames die down. The sound of ticking stopped when Link opened the chest and dug around inside. "Is it the legendary hammer that Darunia was looking for?" I asked as I carefully made my way over to him. He nodded and lifted the Megaton hammer above his head.

"Da da da daa." I chuckled but stopped when I noticed him stumbling towards me. "Whoa watch it!" I cried out but the hammer was too heavy for him to hold above his head like that and fell back with it outstretched towards me. Just then I felt a very heavy and sudden weight on my foot. I slowly looked down to see that the head of the Megaton hammer was resting painfully on my foot. I took in a slow calm breath. "SON OF A-"

~ sc ~

"I cannot believe you said those things in front of Link back there!" Navi shrieked as we walked towards the door Darunia went through.

"Well let me drop the Megaton hammer on your foot and see what you say." I muttered irritably as I bent down to open the stone door with the fire emblem on it. "It's a miracle that I still have it, let alone that it's not broken. That thing is freakin heavy." I grunted out as I tried to lift the door but it seemed jammed. "Great, stuck. Help me out Link."He nodded and with him lifting too, we managed to get the heavy door high enough to go under it.

"Look! It's-" Navi was cut off by a loud reptilian roar. We all looked up to see a giant dragon flying around in circles like a vulture would its meal. "It's Darunia!" Sure enough Darunia was on the center of the rocky island surrounded by lava, though he seemed really tired.

"Heh, it looks like I couldn't quite take the dragon on after all." he said calmly as the dragon dove down for him. He looked over at us and gave us a sad smile. "Finish her off for me." Volvagia let out a stream of fire and engulfed the Goron leader. When the lava dragon passed the spot where Darunia was and ceased her attack, there was absolutely nothing left but scorched rock and a red glow in the place he was standing. We all stared in shock at the sight until Volvagia noticed us. I grabbed Link's arm and dragged him to the column in front of us. We then jumped to the rock island to avoid Volvagia's second stream of fire that was aimed for us.

'This isn't good.' I thought with worry and a little fear. 'If Volvagia can completely annihilate a Goron with her fire than we're done for if we're hit by it.' We watched as the dragon circled around in the air before diving into one of the many lava vents on the island. We jumped back-to-back with our weapons drawn and watched carefully for any activity from the surrounding vents. "Over there!" I yelled once I saw some lava spraying up a bit from the vent beside us. Volvagia's head sprung out of the vent and she glared at us with menacing green eyes. I didn't hesitate and did a jump slash, bringing my broadsword down hard on her skull. A loud clang was heard when my blade made contact but other than making her look down a little, it didn't faze her in the least. I on the other hand, felt the force travel through my hands, my burnt one especially, and growled in pain as I stumbled away from her claws but dropped my sword in the process.

"Watch out!" Angi screamed as Volvagia reared her head back and blew a stream of fire at me. I told my body to move but it wouldn't respond.

'Is this it? Only being a firefighter for a few years and its already gonna kill me.' I thought in fear as the fire raced towards me in slow motion. Suddenly a blur of red jumped in-between me and the stream, causing it to spread out like an umbrella would do a gust of wind. "Thanks Link!" I said in relief but noticed a white liquid drop to the ground in front of him. My eyes widened again when I noticed what the liquid was coming from. Link's shield was slowly melting from the heat and he was grunting in pain from the heat slowly going through his leather gauntlets. 'If this keeps up much longer we'll all be reduced to a pile of ashes.' Just then a glint of metal caught my eye. Link hadn't completely closed the Megaton hammer in his bag and the tip of the handle was sticking out. I grabbed it and pulled it out of the seemingly bottomless pouch. 'If I'm going to do anything I need to do it now!' I thought as I watched the flames that fanned around us.

"Link tilt your shield to the left a little!" I commanded and he did so. With the surface it was hitting now at an angle, the flames grew more intense when flaring out on the left and less on the right. With the right side a little thinner, I could rush through and not suffer any extreme burns. I steeled myself and ran through with the Megaton hammer ready to be brought down on Volvagia's head. I gathered most of my strength and combined it with the momentum I had from running to slam the heavy steel on the dragon's rocky skull. Instead of the force ricocheting like when I used my sword, it was all transferred to my target and caused the rocky plate to crumble away. With her armor destroyed and jaws clamped shut, Link threw the half melted Hylian shield to the side, ran up to the now stunned dragon, and impaled what was left of Volvagia's skull with the master sword.

Volvagia weakly flailed her claws in a desperate attempt to free herself from Link's blade that was pinning her to the ground but soon fell limp. Link twisted the blade to make sure that she wasn't just playing dead, pulled the Sword of Evil's Bane out of her skull and sheathed it. With her anchor removed, Volvagia slowly sunk back into the vent that she was partially out of. Link let out a sigh of relief and looked sadly at the scorched area that Darunia was last seen. I walked over to him with the hammer propped on my left shoulder and put my right hand on his shoulder. He looked at me with watery eyes and I gave him a comforting smile. The whole island suddenly began to shake and rocks started to fall from the ceiling.

"We need to get out of here!" Angi yelled as the rocks clattered around us. The scorched rock then began to glow blue and rays stretched upwards. I gave Link the Megaton hammer and grabbed my broadsword that I dropped earlier.

"I'll be in Kakariko!" I yelled as I ran and jumped to the pillar in front of the exit. I glanced back to see Link fading away in a blue crystal but quickly jumped to the door's platform when I felt my ground start to sink. I ran to the door and tried to lift it but it felt as if it was still jammed. "Shit!" I cried out in panic but a red glow appeared beside me.

"_Thank you... Brother." _A deep voice echoed as the light flew into the door. The fire emblem on the door glowed a faint red and opened on its own. I raced through and the door slammed behind me.

"Phew, thanks Darunia." I said in relief with a smile. I jumped to the middle pillar of the large room but stopped when the tingling feeling in my hand came back.

"Talking to yourself?" a voice chuckled darkly. I whirled around in the direction the voice came from and drew my sword. In the far corner was a human-sized golem with everything above its knees and elbows engulfed in fire.

"Who... or what are you?" I asked as I kept my sword at the ready.

"Names are of no importance." it said as it crossed its stony arms and walked to the edge of its platform. "I am a servant of Lord Ganondorf and am now in charge of this wondrous temple."

"So... you're the evil that's inflicted this place?" I asked in confusion. "But what about Volvagia.?"

"Yes, Volvagia. A beautiful dragon." it said as it nodded its burning skull. "Or should I say was?" It added with malice as it slammed its right hand into the stone floor. My eyes widened when it pulled out a large, one-sided sword and got into a battle stance. "The time for words are over." It jumped to my pillar and brought its sword down. "DIE!" I managed to block it but ever since I ran through Volvagia's fire, I felt like I was wearing my full firefighting gear, all seventy pounds of it. On the bright side, I wasn't exhausted and could still put up a fight. I pushed upwards and managed to throw it off balance. I followed up by ramming my left shoulder into its chest but that was a bit of a bad idea since it was a little tender from the dragon's fire hitting it. Plus the fact that the golem's torso was also on fire didn't make it any better. I grimaced in pain but that didn't stop me from slashing at it. I got a good hit and flames seemed to spray a bit from were my sword hit its torso. It jumped back to another platform and felt its chest.

"You need to douse its flames so you don't hurt yourself." Angi said as she flew around me. "Its blood seems to be pure fire as well."

"What am I suppose to douse flames with in a temple of fire and lava?" I asked as I kept my eyes on the creature. I felt her fly into my left pocket and move something around. 'How do I keep forgetting about my bottle?' I thought to myself as I carefully moved back on my pillar to entice the burning golem to jump back. It did so and we locked blades once again only this time I knocked its blade to the side, dug into my pocket, pulled out my bottle of water, and slammed the glass container into the back of its head. The glass bottle shattered and the water spilled all over its body. It let out a pained hiss as the flames slowly dimmed. I took the chance to pull back my sword and lunge the blade through its back and out its front.

"Burn in hell." I muttered as I placed my foot a little beside my blade to avoid the golems burning blood and roughly shoved the creature off of my sword. It stumbled forward a bit but stopped before it fell over the edge. It turned around and clutched the wound on its gut.

"Don't think that you've won." it said through ragged breaths. "You've lost in the long run. There's no way you can defeat my master."

"I take it that your master is my impersonator?" I asked as I prepared to strike it down.

"Impersonator? Ha!" it breathed. "He is who you think he is but he is far more superior than a mere impersonator."

"That's all I needed to know." I let out calmly. I rushed forward and unleashed a strong horizontal slash against its surprisingly soft torso. The force of my attack knocked it back and made the creature plummet to the lava below. I walked to the edge and watched its hand slowly sink into the molten rock. Right before it was completely submerged, the hand gave me one final signal by closing into a fist and only lifting the middle finger. 'Where have I seen an ending like that before?'

~ sc ~

"I can't take much more of this." I sighed as I walked into Death Mountain Crater. "That fight with Volvagia and that golem took more out of me than I realized." Without warning, a geyser of lava spewed out of the rock right in front of me. "Ah!" I let out in surprise and slight pain from the heat as I stumbled back. A small rumbling started and was slowly growing more feirce. "What's going on?"

"Death Mountain's going to erupt soon!" Angi cried in fear. "We need to get out of here!" I was running to the wooden bridge by the time she said 'erupt'. "Hey wait up!"

"I don't think so!" I called back. "I doubt my necklace will protect me from an eruption!" I made it to the bridge but came to a screeching halt when I reached the broken part. "Damn I don't have the hookshot. Looks like I gotta jump." I muttered as I moved back a bit.

"Are you crazy?" Angi asked in shock. "The gap is way too large to jump across."

"It's better than waiting to go swimming in lava." I called as I sprinted to the end of the bridge and dove for the rocky ledge. I was short a few inches but managed to grab the dangling planks of the bridge. I took in a few breaths to calm myself but it didn't help much since the air was really hot and stuffy. I started climbing up but the sound of popping fabric made me freeze in fear. I looked up, and to my horror, saw that the rope was snapping one strand at a time.

"Grab on!" I heard a muffled voice yell as a silver chain flung over the edge and smacked me in the face. Not caring who it was, I wrapped the chain around my right arm, grabbed it, and scaled the rock face. "Are you alright?" a ninja in a blue and white body suit asked in worry.

"Yeah, thanks Sheik." I breathed as I untangled the chain from around my arm. Due to the chain being a thin fine metal, it left a small cut where it was when I used it to help climb up. On top of that, my right hand was tingling again. "That can't be good." I said as I remembered that my hand was only tingling when I was around that creature or when I was touching the block with the Gerudo symbol. "It's coming." I muttered.

"What is?" Sheik asked once she was done putting her chain away. Before I could answer a geyser of lava shot out of the ground from behind us followed by a dark chuckle.

"Did you honestly believe that was enough to defeat me?" the nameless golem laughed as it walked out of the lava geyser.

"Doesn't hurt to hope does it?" I asked as I drew my broadsword.

"Hahaha, false hope can get you killed." it laughed as it slammed its hand in the ground and pulled out its large, one-sided sword.

"What is that?" Sheik asked as she pulled out a small ninja blade and got into a fighting stance.

"Some second-in-command minion my impersonator created in case Volvagia died." I said as I got ready to fight. "Which she did rather easily I might add."

"Hmph, well you wouldn't have finished her so easily had that overweight Goron not worn her down." the burning golem said as it charged towards us. Sheik jumped to the side and out of range but I knew I wouldn't be able to move around as much as I would want to. I simply stood their and blocked his attack but he felt stronger than before.

"What gives." I grunted out as I fought against the pressure he put against my blade. "Did knocking you into that lava make you stronger or something?"

"Hmhmhm, I was taking it easy on you to judge your strength since you managed to defeat Master's guard from the Forest Temple." It chuckled as it tried to knee me while we were deadlocked. I managed to side-step the knee and make the large sword fall to the left by tilting my blade. While I was moving I twisted and elbowed the golem in the back of the head with my right elbow. Two problems with my intended attack: one, it was my unprotected arm versus its stone skull; two, it was my unprotected arm versus its burning skull. I backed up and growled from pain and frustration of my stupid action. What surprised me a bit was that it looked like I actually hurt it since it was holding where I hit it.

"So you're not all stone are you?" I asked thoughtfully as I rubbed my elbow. "Sheik the burning part of its body is soft!" I looked around but didn't see her anywhere. "Sheik?" I asked and she came from the side of my vision and rushed towards the burning figure.

"Be careful! It's blood is like fire!" Angi screamed right before Sheik slashed at the golem. The ninja stopped her blade just as it was about to pierce its skin once she heard the fairy's warning. Unfortunately, the golem had recovered from my strike and took advantage of her hesitation. It grabbed her by the loose cloth she had over her tight clothing and threw her across the gap of the broken bridge. She got right back up and was about to jump back to our rock but a wall of fire shot up on the edges.

"Now that we're nice and cozy on our little stage, show me how you managed to defeat the Forest Temple's second-in-command." the blazing golem yelled as it charged towards me with its sword ready to cleave me in two. I jumped back a little to be just out of the range of its blade and gave off a horizontal slash. The golem brought up the handle and ducked down so my sword would glance off of its stone blade. With my sword up in the air, the golem flipped its sword around so the sharp part was pointed towards me and rushed forward. I mimicked what it did earlier and pulled my sword back and blocked its attack with the flat of my weapon. I had to have one hand on the handle and my other hand further down my sword to keep the pressure even so I wouldn't be knocked off balance. "With the way your fighting, I'm amazed that you're even alive."

"What makes you think that I've even fought this so called second-in-command of the Forest Temple?" I asked with a grunt as I held my ground while the creature continued to add pressure to make me slowly slide back.

"Hmhm, I can sense its presence nearby." its gaze traveled up and down me until it focused on my right hand. "Aaaaah, there it is. Resting in your hand." it increased its pressure on my sword and the faint sound of straining metal could be heard if you listened carefully. I was too busy keeping the stone sword away from me that I didn't notice it but Sheik's and Angi's sensitive ears could.

"Josh!" Sheik called from her place on the post above the bridge. "Your sword's about to-" the sound of metal snapping followed by a cry of pain interrupted her. My broadsword broke under the strain that the golem was putting on it and its stone sword was now partially in my left shoulder. If it weren't for my shoulder pauldron I'd have a much deeper gash. On the bright side, the break was in-between both of my hands and I still had a firm grip on my handle and blade. I pulled back my right hand, which had the handle, and shoved the broken edge into the golem's soft side. I then took the blade that was in my left hand and shoved the tip into its other side. It cried out in pain as it let go of its stone blade and backed up.

"Tell your master," I panted through pain and fatigue as I picked up the golem's discarded blade. "That I will find a way to beat him." I brought the sword back, lunged forward, and impaled the large stone through the golem's chest. Its fire dimmed to nothing as it looked at me.

"You don't need to worry about that." It said weakly as its blood flowed out of its wounds and a little out of its mouth. "You will face him... if you can survive long enough to get to him." It laughed but stopped when a coughing fit hit and more blood came out. "I underestimated you but Master will surely defeat you... I will enjoy watching when the time comes." With that its body began to float into the air and the flames came back to life but were much more fierce. The creature cried out in pain as the fiery halo above Death Mountain began being absorbed into its body before exploding.

I stared at the spot where it was for a few seconds to see that a small purple orb lingered in the air. Without warning, it shot down towards me but I managed to bring my right hand up to try and catch it. Instead of it being like a ball and staying in my hand like I thought it would, it went inside my hand and started burning just like when I killed the unusual stalfos. I clutched it in pain and saw Sheik run over to me when the fire wall died down.

"Are you alright?" she asked as she looked me over. "Sorry, stupid question." she said sadly once she noticed my bleeding left shoulder, slightly burnt left arm, wrapped up left hand, slightly bleeding right forearm from her chain, and tired look. I sighed then shrugged and walked towards the exit that lead to Goron City. Unfortunately the small rumbling that I had forgotten about during my fight was now an intense shaking and rocks were falling off of the wall above us. One large rock just so happened to land in front of the exit I was planning on using.

"I just can't get a break can I?" I asked tiredly and stumbled to the wall further ahead in hopes of climbing out. I looked up the rocky face and let out a tired sigh. 'Dammit, there's no way I can climb this now. I'm too exhausted.' An eerie yet calming tune caught my attention and I looked over to see Sheik playing her harp. "You're leaving me here?" I asked in complete shock but once she finished she ran over to me and hugged me. I was about to ask why but my vision was engulfed in a purple light and I felt lightheaded.

~ sc ~

When I felt ground beneath my feet and gravity take over, I didn't bother to fight it and simply collapsed on whatever was below me. Unfortunately what I collapsed onto was a hard marble platform, but at least it had a welcoming cool touch to it. I opened my eyes and looked up to see an orange light and the silhouette of Sheik looking down at me.

"What just happened?" I muttered as I tried to sit up.

"I teleported us to Kakariko Graveyard." Sheik said simply as she helped me stand up.

"Are my eyes messed up?" I asked once I was standing and leaning on her. "Everthing's dark."

"No it's just night time." she chuckled. "Let me help you to the village so you can rest." I nodded and stumbled to our destination with her help. I was too tired to make it and collapsed on the ground before we could even make it off of the pedestal.

* * *

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	11. Theives, Questions, and Predicaments

Okay first I'd like to say that I'm sorry for the relatively late update. A few issues popped up but they're out of the way now. I'm back, story's back, and I really appreciate the new reviews! It's good to know that doing I'm pretty well so far.

Anyway, enough of that. Enjoy another chapter!

* * *

"_He can't be too far off!" a dark figure yelled as it and a few others ran through a white forest. "It was just reported that a campsite was spotted about a quarter of a mile away from here!"_

"_But it's been over a week sir." one of the following figures called over the rustling brush. "It may be time to call the search off." The lead figure sent a faceless glare at the one that spoke up._

"_Unless we find any evidence that says otherwise, we are to look for him as if he were alive." the leader almost growled out. "He's no boy scout but he knows how to take care of himself." They continued their trek through the forest that was slowly being engulfed by a warm and comforting darkness._

~ sc ~

'Agrh, what happened last night?' I thought groggily as I slowly became aware of my sore body. I slowly flexed my hands but winced when I felt a small pain shoot through them. Suddenly, something wet pressed against my cheek and I could hear the thing sniff me. "Go away Sugar." I groaned sleepily as I pushed the nose away. I turned to my right and brought my blanket up while snuggling my face into my pillow. My eyes shot open when I realized what I had just done but soon drooped back down. I brought my hands up so I could see them and noticed that they were bandaged up. "Am I back?" I muttered still half asleep but was getting a little excited.

"Back where?" a familiar high pitched voice asked. I flinched when I recognized who it was and squinted at the orange orb that fluttered near me.

'Of course not.' I thought with a disappointed sigh and buried my face into my semi-firm pillow. 'I'm not done here so of course I'm not back.' "Home." I mumbled into the fabric. It felt more like two small cushions pushed together and covered by a smooth cloth but I wasn't complaining, it was comfortable. "Where'd this bed come from anyway?" I asked as I looked over to the fairy but still lay on the pillow. "Did Sheik put me here?"

"Well it's not exactly a bed but she kinda helped you into it." she said as she fluttered down to my face level.

"Kinda?" I asked as I rolled back to my side. "What, was I sleep walking or something?" I half joked. I know I turn in my sleep sometimes, heck I've fallen out of my bed on occasion but I know I don't sleepwalk. Then again with all this magic and what-not, I wouldn't be too surprised.

"No, she just helped you get situated and put a blanket over you." she giggled. I was about to close my eyes and go back to sleep but my pillow shifted under my head. Out of curiosity, I sat up and looked behind me. I tensed when I looked at my pillow and noticed that it was the lap of a beautiful young woman with blonde hair down to the middle of her back that was rubbing sleep from her eyes. I heard a soft neigh and saw a tan horse laying down right behind her. He stretched his neck forward and pressed his wet nose against the bare part of my back that wasn't bandaged.

"Dah quit! That's cold!" I yelped as I hurriedly pushed his snout away. I let out a yawn and began to stretch. "Mornin' every-Ow!" I let out as I gripped my left shoulder.

"Careful! You mustn't move your arm so much." the blonde woman warned. "You've got a deep cut and you'll reopen it." she lightly grabbed my right shoulder and gently tugged on it to get me to lay back down. "You should rest some more, you're still injured."

"Nah, I won't be able to sleep now that I know I'm this hurt." I said as I lightly shrugged her hand off and turned to her.

"You still shouldn't move around too much." she said with concerned red eyes. "What happened to you anyway?" she asked as she looked over my bandaged hands, arms, and shoulder. "I saw a Sheikah bringing you from Kakariko graveyard last night with burns and cuts."

"You mean you've been here the whole time I was up at Death Mountain?" I asked as I looked from my hands to her. She shook her head no and I went back to looking at them. 'How did I burn my right hand?' I wondered. 'I know I burnt my left on that doorknob but-'

"The blood remember?" Angi asked once she noticed me staring at my hands. Zefrelda and I looked at her questioningly. "The golem's blood spilled over your hands when you stabbed it with your broken sword."

"Riiight the golem's blood was like fire." I said thoughtfully as I looked up to the summit of Death Mountain. A smile made its way on my face when I saw that the fiery halo was now a simple ring of smoke.

"Golem?" Zefrelda asked in surprise. "I thought you went up there for some business with your friend."

"I did." I said with a smile. "And we did it quite well."

"Well you could've been a little more careful in there." Angi added as she fluttered to the side of us.

"I know I know." I sighed. "But you gotta think about it. If you go into a temple with fire and lava practically everywhere, you're gonna get burned somehow."

"Link didn't." the orange orb pointed out.

"Yeah well he had the Goron tunic when all I had was the Kokiri tunic and my undershirt." I said defensively. "Speaking of which, where are they?"

"Over there on the well." Zefrelda said as she pointed at the two shirts hanging over its stone edge. "I had to take them off so I could bandage you up properly." Her face seemed to grow just a tad bit redder but I didn't think much of it.

"Right." I said as I nodded. "Anyway, did a guy in a red tunic and a blue fairy pass by while I was out?"

"Yes, he left a bottle of red potion for when you woke up." She said as she picked up said bottle that was beside her. She held it out to me and I took it, albeit a bit hesitantly. A little because my hands were burnt but mostly because I didn't want to re-taste the horrid concoction.

"Do I have to?" I whined. "I can still taste a little bit of it from the last time I had some, and that was days ago."

"Drink it." Angi and Zefrelda chorused sternly. Even Ocean Roll was staring at me as if telling me to drink it. I groaned as I uncorked it and downed the bottle's contents in one go.

"Ugh." I gagged. "I don't care how relieved I feel from drinking this stuff, I'm never going to like it."

"It beats suffering from wounds doesn't it?" the orange orb asked as she circled around me a few times. "Your burns were pretty bad."

"I guess it does." I muttered as I got up with a grunt and made my way over to the well to get a drink.

"You should rest." Zefrelda said as she got up and followed me. "It's when people think they're fine after a situation they usually overdo it and suffer for it later." A partial smile made its way on my face when she used the very same thing I said to her.

"So true." I laughed as I dipped my bottle in and filled it with cool water. I chugged the water down in hopes of getting rid of the bitter taste of the red potion. Instead of the water washing it down, it actually made it like I was drinking the potion over again. "Argh, made it worse." I cringed a bit and filled my bottle up again and set it on the rim of the well. I slowly unraveled the bandages that were wrapped around my right hand so as not to aggravate my slowly receding burns. I picked up my bottle and poured the cool water on my hand to help relieve the warm sting. I stopped when I noticed a familiar looking faded mark on my hand. 'The hell? When did that get there?' I wondered as I set the bottle down and examined it.

"I wanted to ask you about that when you woke up." Zefrelda said as she came up beside me and leaned against the well. She gently grabbed my hand and looked at the symbol. "You have the mark of the Gerudo but you keep saying that you're not one." She looked up at me with a questioning gaze. "Are you really not one of them?

"I'm not one of them Zefrelda." I said sincerely as I looked her in the eyes. "That symbol wasn't there the last time I checked." She smiled and nodded showing that she believed me. "Sure it was over seven years ago the last time i looked but I know it wasn't there." I added with a chuckle getting a confused look at her.

"You mean when you first met me and Princess Zelda?" Angi asked as she flew over and looked at the mark. It looked like a horizontal wrench with a dot inside each of the heads. There was also what looked like spiky ended lemons above and below the wrench. In other words, it looked like the more recent Gerudo symbol was stamped on the back of my hand with faded ink.

"Yeah, I know it wasn't there when I found you two in the forest." I replied as I continued to pour what was left in the bottle on my hand after Zefrelda let it go.

"But what could've done that to you?" the blonde asked as she sat on the edge of the well.

"Not sure." I said simply as I dipped my bottle back in the water.

"The guardians." Angi said after a moment of thought.

"You mean my impersonator's lackeys?" I asked as I started to unravel the bandage on my left hand. I winced when I took the cloth off the space just under my fingers to reveal a semi-deep cut across my palm. "Note to self, don't grab a blade with my bare hands to stab something again." I muttered.

"Yeah, that purple stalfos and the golem both turned into small purple orbs and flew into your right hand. You always gripped it like you were being burned after the purple orbs were absorbed." I nodded along with her explanation since it seemed reasonable.

"Makes sense." I said as I started to pour the cool water on my left but winced when I went to lift my arm so I could let the cool water flow over it. "Geez, how bad was my shoulder?" I asked with a grunt as I put my bottle down and lightly felt were the cut was.

"Well..." Zefrelda started as she grabbed my white undershirt and held it up for me to see. I winced when I saw that almost the entire left sleeve and some of the chest was stained red. "It wasn't too bad but it wasn't pretty either."

"Well crap. I don't have any shirts now." I said as I took another look at the ruined apparel. "By any chance do you have anything I could use?" I asked looking to the red-eyed blonde. "I'd rather not walk around all day showing off my bandaged arms and shoulder."

"You've still got the Kokiri tunic." Angi chimed in. "It's cloth is enchanted so it mends itself when it's torn and is dark enough to hide washed out blood."

"Haha I need to get one of those for myself." I laughed as I took a sip of water but soon spit it out since it tasted just like the potion. "Agh, forgot. The water just brings the taste back."

"I think I've got something that might help." Zefrelda said as she walked over to her bag on Ocean Roll's saddle and started to dig through it. She pulled out a dark brown flask and held it out to me. "Drink some of this. It should mask the flavor."

"I don't want it if it's worse." I said as I grabbed the flask and opened it. I looked inside and noticed a dark syrupy liquid that slowly ran to the sides as I tilted the flask a little.

"It's much better. Trust me." she laughed. I shrugged and took a sip. The syrup tasted very much like melted milk chocolate as it slid down my throat.

"Wow." I let out in surprise. "Reminds me of a chocolate kiss." I laughed and handed the flask back after I closed it. "That'll perk anyone up." I gingerly stretched to see how much the potion had healed my shoulder. It wasn't completely healed but it was much less painful than before. I rolled it around to test the pain and was happy that it was bearable. "Hey Zefrelda." I said and got her attention after she put away the flask, "where did Link run off to?"

"Your friend in red?" she asked getting a nod from me. "His fairy said they'd be at Lon Lon Ranch. He waited for you to wake up for a few hours but I told him that I'd make sure you were alright."

"And you did a fine job with that, thanks." I said with a smile getting one from her as well. "But how long was I out?"

"A few days." Angi giggled.

"What?" I asked in shock making the orange fairy laugh.

"It's only been about ten hours since the Sheikah brought you here." Zefrelda said as she picked up the Kokiri tunic and held it out to me. I grabbed it and carefully put the green tunic on to conceal my bandaged shoulder. The burn on my left arm and cut on my right from Sheik's chain were healed so I took off the bandages that covered them.

"What about my gear?" I asked as I wrapped my left hand back up to cover what was left of the cut.

"Gone." Angi said simply.

"Gone?" I asked in confusion.

"Gone." the orange orb repeated. "Your shoulder guard has a large cut in it, your arm guard was burned from Volvagia's fire, and your glove was burned by the golem's blood to where they're practically useless."

"Lovely." I sighed sarcastically. "Plus my broadsword broke so I've only got the Kokiri sword now." I muttered as I went about to search for it.

"Not necessarily." Zefrelda said as she held the small sword out to me. I gave her a questioning look as I grabbed it and strapped it in its place on my lower back. "Big Goron may have fixed your sword by now."

"Cool let's go check." I said as I wrapped my right hand back up so I could hide the Gerudo symbol that was on the back of it. I walked over to Ocean Roll and climbed up in the saddle first so I could help Zefrelda sit side-saddle behind me. I've never done it, but I'm assuming that straddling a horse isn't easy to do in a dress.

"By the way." Zefrelda spoke up after we descended the staircase that connected Kakariko Village and Hyrule Field. "Why did you say 'go away sugar' when Ocean Roll touched your face?"

"I thought I was back at my homeland when I woke up." I said truthfully as I looked over my shoulder to her. "My dog's name is Sugar and she usually woke me up by sticking her nose in my face." I half-expected them to giggle but got a curious expression from both of them instead.

"What's your homeland like?" Zefrelda asked as we continued in the direction of the camp the residents of Kakariko were temporarily staying.

"It's... different." I said after a moment of thought. "Mind if I tell you later? I don't really feel like talking about it now." She sighed in mild disappointment but nodded and dropped the conversation... for now anyway.

~ sc ~

"I'm going to go on ahead and tell the guards that its safe to go back to the village." Zefrelda said as we dismounted Ocean Roll just outside of the camp. I nodded and started to walk off but stopped once my vision went black from a cloth being pulled over my face. I grabbed the cloth and pulled it up enough for me to see Zefrelda walking off with a bright smile on her face. "Keep your hat over your ears so you don't cause a fuss. I'll come and find you when I'm done. Go and enjoy yourself in the meantime."

"Alright see you then." I called as I walked into the camp. I passed by many stalls selling things from bugs to extravagant rugs. I continued my trek through the soon to be moving camp but stopped when I noticed a small crowd cluttered near a far off tent. I walked up to get a better look and saw a few exotic dancers twisting, swaying, jumping, tumbling, and swirling with silk scarves. They all had the same silky green translucent pants and tight partially revealing tops, but their skin tones varied from fair to dark tan. Three of them had cowls so I could only see the amber eyes of the ones that had their eyes open. The other one, and apparent lead dancer, only had a simple green cloth over the lower part of her face. Her red, waist length hair was bound in a high ponytail and was flowing fluidly with her moves. She also had a marking on her left shoulder but wouldn't hold still long enough for me to make it out.

'What are Gerudo doing dancing here?' I thought as I watched the four women dancing to the tune of some near by musicians. I looked closer and saw that the musicians were dressed in similar non-see-through clothing with cowls, but the few men that were among them had more of a sleeve-less tunic. A few of them had the same marking as the lead dancer but were a little too far away for me to see it clearly. The men and women of the small band were playing one of the songs that I will never forget, the song of Gerudo Valley.

"Hey! Your sword just got stolen!" Angi whispered harshly into my ear.

"That's nice." I said half listening to her as I watched the dancers continue their performance. "Wait, what?" I glanced down at the now vacant spot on my belt. I looked around frantically and noticed a woman dressed similarly to the dancers disappear into the crowd with a red jeweled, wooden handle sticking out over her shoulder. "Hey!" I yelled as I pushed through the growing crowd, receiving some very unpleasant comments in the process. "Tangi, go after her. "I grunted out while shoving people out of my way. "But stay high so I can keep track of you." she nodded and flew off to follow the thief.

'I can't believe I let that happen.' I thought to myself as I casually followed the flying orange orb so I'd be less likely to be noticed by the thief I was tailing. 'Man, Navi's gonna give me an earful if she finds out about this.' I increased my pace slightly so I would be more likely to see the thief and get the sword back, but mostly because I enjoyed using my ears and didn't want to chance the blue fairy trying to bite them off. I watched Angi steadily fly in the air and chose a different path in order to cut the thief off. I leaned against the side of an abandoned stall and waited for her to pass the corner. Once she made it around, I grabbed her and pinned her against the stall with her back facing me.

"Mind giving my sword back?" I asked as I pushed her arm up her back a little and spread her feet apart so she couldn't escape easily.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" she half yelled in a somewhat muffled voice due to her cowl. She started to struggle but quickly stopped when I started to push her arm further up her back to were she was almost able to touch the back of her neck.

"Gah! S-stop that hurts!" she cried out.

"Alright but do you mind if I ask a few questions?" I asked as I stopped adding pressure but still kept her arm against her back. She shook her head and stopped struggling. "Where's my sword that you stole from me?"

"Like I need to answer any questions from a servant of Ganondorf." she muttered making me raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"So what does that make you?" I asked but she simply turned her head and glared at me with green eyes. "Okay let me rephrase that, why won't you answer me? What would me being a supposed servant of Ganondorf have anything to do with that?"

"That very reason." she replied. I let out a frustrated sigh and slightly twisted her wrist. "Ah! Okay, okay! I'm relatively new so I don't know the details. Some of the Gerudo haven't been fond of Ganondorf's rule over Hyrule and have been rebelling against him."

"So... what, you're a Hylian that joined the Gerudo?" I asked as I stopped putting pressure. "You've got green eyes and your skin's a bit lighter."

"Yes I'm Hylian." she replied with a sigh. "And so are some of the others."

"What about those musicians? Were they Gerudo too?"

"Not official ones." she said as she looked at me over her shoulder. "Some desert Gerudo went rogue in order to gather recruits to fight against Ganondorf."

"They're even recruiting men?" I asked in surprise. "I thought they didn't exactly think very highly of them."

"As far as I know, they only recruit those that they know will be helpful in their resistance." she replied.

"So what are you doing here?" I asked. "What was with the performance and-" I stopped mid-sentence when I felt cold steel lightly press against my neck.

"That's enough questions from you." the red-haired Gerudo dancer from the tent said as she held a dagger to my throat. I slowly turned my head and saw that all of the dancers and musicians from before were around me. I was about to talk but stopped when she pressed the blade harder onto my neck."Let her go or you'll lose your head." I gulped and slowly let go of the girl I had pinned against the stall. Once the light tan thief moved, I was roughly pinned against the stall the same way I had her. I grunted in pain when the lead dancer brought my left arm behind my back. "What should we do with him?" she asked the others.

"Maybe we could get him to join us." the one that stole my sword suggested. "He's been the only one that's caught me so far."

"Are you even listening to yourself?" one of the male musicians asked in shock. "You said yourself that he's a servant of Ganondorf!"

"I only said that to throw him off guard so I could break free." she said back. "If he was one then I'd be dead already." A few of the others seemed to nod and looked over to me, some more intently than others. "B-but how did you know that I said that?"

"We followed you after we finished our performance to check your progress. You did well with getting his sword, but I can't say I'm impressed that you got caught or gave up information so easily. However," The leader took the dagger away from my throat but kept me pinned to the stall. "Does anyone object to this man being a possible recruit?" she asked as she watched for any. Everyone agreed except for an older Gerudo pushing her way to the front of the small group.

"I do." she rasped. " I can't place it, but there is something off about this young man."

"Maybe it's just his good looks." one of the dancers giggled making a few of the guys mumble something but I couldn't make it out. I would've laughed but I was busy trying to ignore the pain of my cut arm being pinned against my back. I'm no model but I'd say that I'm on the handsome side.

"Show some respect." a middle-aged musician whispered. "That's Ali the Hag, one of the few Gerudo that has met with the Goddess of the Sand."

"And I'm not too keen of that name." the old Gerudo muttered as she walked over to me. The way her gaze traveled over me was a little unnerving. "It's as if one force is trying to take over but is being suppressed by another. Perhaps he is a servant of Ganondorf that can conceal his own magic to where I can't sense it properly?"

"What are you-" I was cut off by the dancer shoving my face into the wooden stall. "Ow."

"So what do you suggest we do?" the lead dancer asked.

"We suggest that you let our brother go." a deep yet feminine voice said sternly. The 'rogue' Gerudo turned to where the voice came from to see a small group of Gorons glaring at them. I looked over my shoulder to see who said it but the green-garbed Gerudo were blocking my view. However, now that the lead dancer was close to me and not prancing around, I could get a better look at the mark on her left shoulder. It was in a lighter tone than her skin but I could make out a thin-edged 'C' that grew thicker towards the middle with a pointy object connecting the tips.

"Is that a banana?" I muttered to myself as I tried to get a better look but couldn't since I could barely move. 'No that's stupid. Why would a dancer have a light tan fruit tattooed on her arm?' I was too lost in thought to notice the conversation between the Gerudo and the Gorons.

"Might I ask what Gorons would want with a Hylian when their fellow brothers and sisters are imprisoned in Death Mountain?" the lead dancer asked.

"I'm Sharlin, the new leader of the Gorons and am here to officially welcome our newest brother, which just so happens to be that man that you have there." Sharlin said as she crossed her arms.

"A Hylian considered a brother to the Gorons?" one of the musicians asked in surprise. "He must have done something pretty amazing or else this is some joke."

"Just look up at Death Mountain and you'll see what he's done for us." a rather large framed Goron said with a grin.

"Why would the Gorons even consider a man that... lifted the curse?" one of the dancers asked in astonishment once she noticed that the fiery halo was gone.

"Yes." Sharlin said with a wide grin. "He and our other Hylian brother broke the curse and saved all of us, you included since it was close to erupting." All of the Gerudo stared at me. Some in astonishment, some in disbelief, a few in respect, and a few in admiration. "Now let him go or you'll have to answer to all of us." A few Gorons behind her cracked their knuckles to show that they were ready to fight if they had to.

"Let's go everyone." the lead dancer said as she released me. "We've got enough for today and wouldn't gain anything from this." The rest of the Gerudo nodded and followed her away to wherever they were headed next.

'-can't make a sandcastle without water and the best place for that is a beach. Problem is that the closest thing to a beach is Lake Hylia and that's... how did I even get to that? Stupid overactive imagination. What was I thinking about again?' I wondered since I didn't notice that the Gerudo had already gone. 'Oh right, something about the Gerudo and-'

"Brother!" a familiar deep childish squeal broke me from my thoughts followed by a small Goron tackling me to the ground. "Are you alright?"

"Hey Little Link!" I laughed as I got up. "Oh hey everyone. How come you aren't up in Goron City?"

"We came down to let the Gorons that got away know that you and Link saved us and that it's safe to go back." Sharlin said as she walked up to me. "And don't feel bad about Darunia, he told us that now he can watch over all of us at once since he's the Fire Sage." I gave a questioning look and was about to ask how they knew but Little Link beat me.

"Yeah, he visited us in our sleep and said everything would be alright." he said happily. "He's always with us and wanted us to thank you for saving everyone. Especially for setting mommy free so she could come back for me." he walked over to Sharlin and she picked him up.

"Oh so you're family." I said as I pointed to them.

"Yep and so are you!" Sharlin said happily as she signaled for one of the Gorons to come forward. The large framed Goron pulled out a pair of leather gauntlets that were similar to Link's from the cart of merchandise he was pulling and held them out to me. "And we'd like for you to have these." I took them and looked them over. "They're made from Dodongo hide so I'm sure they will come in handy." I put them on over my bandages since I didn't want to show them the symbol on my hand in case it would frighten them. "And now for the ceremony!" she cried happily as all of the Gorons slowly closed in on me.

"Uh, what ceremony?" I asked a bit uneasily as I backed up to the stall.

"Where we all give you a big Goron hug to welcome you as a brother!" Little Link laughed. I nearly blanched when they cornered me to the stall.

"We were so worried when your fairy said you were in trouble! We all came rushing to find you!" one yelled.

"Thank you so much for everything you've done!" another one yelled. "I'm going to give you a hug so big that even Big Goron would be proud!" Upon hearing that, my eyes widened in fear for two reasons. One being that there would be nothing left of me if that happened, and two: itreminded me of the sword Big Goron was fixing for me, which in turn reminded me of my stolen sword that I might lose my ears over.

"Sorry, I'll have to pass. I need to go and get something before I lose it!" I cried fearfully as I scrambled onto the stand and ran off. After a few minutes of running for my well being, I stopped to catch my breath and ask a few citizens were the group of Gerudo went. "Excuse me, have you seen a group of dancers and musicians come by here lately?"

"Which one?" the man asked.

"The one with green dancers." I replied.

"Right, which one?"

"Uh, the one with a red haired lead dancer."

"I'll ask again, which group are you talking about?" he asked, clearly getting annoyed. "There's been a few that came by recently and they all have what you say." I let out a frustrated groan and took off in hopes of finding the group that stole the Kokiri sword. Since asking about them wouldn't help, I had to search for them on my own. A woman ran out in front of me but I was going too fast to stop in time. We both fell to the ground and the collision made her drop what she was carrying and made my hat fall off.

"I am so sorry." I said as I started to get up but she grabbed my head and hugged it to her.

"Where's your hat?" she whispered to me as she made sure her arms were over my ears.

"Zefrelda?" I asked as I tried to look up but her arms prevented me from doing so. "I don't know, I can't see it." I mumbled into her chest. "It fell off when I ran into you."

"Found it." another familiar voice chimed.

"Good bring it here." Zefrelda said.

"Why can't I get it?" I asked.

"Because a lot of people and a few Gerudo are around that wouldn't hesitate to attack you if they thought you were your impersonator." the blonde whispered. "So give his hat to me Angi."

"But you two look so cute like that." the fairy teased.

"Tangi, I'm not complaining but give me my hat. I need to get my sword back or else Navi will probably bite my ears off." I said but mentally kicked myself for saying the first part. Angi busted out laughing and judging by the way Zefrelda's arms moved, I figured she was tempted to throw me off of her. 'Why, oh why did I have to say the first part?' Even though I knew we were surrounded by people and stalls, it seemed like it was uncomfortably silent other than Zefrelda's heartbeat and Angi's laughter. On top of that, it suddenly felt much hotter than usual due to my embarrassment. I felt somewhat relieved when a cloth dropped down on part of my head. Zefrelda let go of me and I pulled down my hat enough to hide my ears. "Sorry." I chuckled nervously as I got up and held my hand out to her. "The first part kinda just... came out."

"It's alright." she said with a fading blush as I pulled her up. Again, it got uncomfortably quiet other than Angi's giggling until Zefrelda started looking around. "Oh! I almost forgot." she said as she grabbed the object she dropped and held it behind her back. "I got something you might like."

"What, a flask of that syrup that you let me taste?" I joked as I tried to look around her. She shook her head and pulled out a short sword with a red jewel embedded in the wooden hilt. "That's the- how did you-" I stuttered at the sight of the Kokiri sword.

"I saw a group of Gerudo carrying this while I was looking for you." she said as she held the sword out to me. "I managed to persuade them to hand it over."

"You saved me my ears!" I cried happily as I pulled her into a light hug. I let go of her and attached the sword onto my belt. "Thank you, now I don't have to worry about Navi taking out my ability to hear."

"Not necessarily." Angi said a little too sweetly. "I could accidently bring this up." I looked at her in fear.

"You wouldn't!" I let out.

"I would." she giggled making Zefrelda laugh a bit.

"No you wouldn't." I said with a grin after a moment of thought. She lifted her finger to argue but I beat her to talking "You're my guardian so you're partially responsible for what I do. That means you're just as guilty as me so she might actually yell at you more." The orange fairy lowered her hand, making my grin grow larger knowing that I won.

"How did they get it anyway?" Zefrelda asked after she calmed down.

"It was stolen when I was-"

"Going googly eyed at the Gerudo dancers." Angi finished for me.

"I was not." I said defensively. "I was trying to make out the marks on their arms."

"As if, you were practically drooling for the five minutes you were staring at them."

"Okay sue me for being a healthy young man and watching some attractive women belly dance." I said with a shrug. "But I wasn't drooling or going googly eyed over them. I was merely wondering why Gerudo were here in the first place. Would you happen to know Zefrelda?" I asked the blonde that seemed to be lost in thought. "Zefrelda?"

"Hm? Oh, I'm not really sure but they have been around ever since we made the camp out here." she replied.

"Any idea why they're here and dancing for the crowd?" I asked as we started to walk through the camp. "I thought they were feared thieves."

"They're still thieves, but they've actually been helping the guards protect the camp." she replied as a group of kids ran passed us. "As for the dancing, I think they're trying to get men to go with them willingly."

"And if the men don't go willingly?" I asked expecting her to finish.

"If a Gerudo wants a man, then she'll find a way to get him." she said with a small smile. I on the other hand had a somewhat worried frown when I recalled how some of the Gerudo looked at me. "Something wrong?" the blonde asked once she noticed my face.

"No, I just get the feeling that I haven't seen the last of those Gerudo that stole my sword." I said with a shrug.

"You mean you encountered more than the one that stole from you?" she asked in surprise.

"A whole group of them actually." Angi added. "We chased down the thief but Josh got cornered when he started questioning her. I got worried so I flew off to find some help."

"Oh yeah, thanks for sending the Gorons Tangi." I said with a smile. "But wouldn't the guards have worked just as fine?"

"Probably not." Zefrelda said. "They have ways to manipulate the guards but why do you ask that? Do you not like the Gorons or something?"

"No, no it's not that. It's their hugs I could do without." I chuckled. "One's enough for me. I don't think there would be anything left of me if all of them decided to take part in the Brother Welcoming Ceremony."

"You mean they accept you as a brother?" the blonde asked in surprise getting a nod from me. "Wow that's quite an accomplishment, and being the first in a long time to do it too. Well other than the King of course."

"Second actually. The first one was my friend Link." I said with a grin. "Anyway all this talk about the Gorons reminds me about the sword Big Goron is fixing." I stopped and looked around but surprisingly couldn't see him. "Uh... where is he?"

"In his makeshift shop putting the finishing touches on it." Zefrelda replied as we started to reach the edge of the camp. "I asked if he would deliver it to Lon Lon Ranch when he was done while I informed the guards about Death Mountain."

"Why Lon Lon Ranch?" I asked as she whistled for Ocean Roll.

"I figured that you wanted to meet up with your friend there." she replied with a smile as we watched her tan horse run up to us. "Plus I want to see how Malon is doing. I haven't seen her in a few days and that letter she sent when you left has me a little worried."

"Good point." I laughed as I mounted him and helped Zefrelda up. "But I'm sure Malon's fine. It was just a bump on the head so she should be up and about by now." With that, I steered Ocean Roll in the direction of Lon Lon Ranch.

~ sc ~

"Hm, weird." I thought aloud as I tucked my hat into my belt. My companions gave me a curious look as we passed the gate to Lon Lon Ranch. "Its getting dark again."

"What's so weird about that?" Angi asked as we pulled up to the corral. "It gets dark every day."

"It was just starting to get dark every time I've come here. The first time with you and Zelda, a few days ago with Link and Navi, and now with you two." I said as I helped the blonde down. "Only one thing missing though." I looked around to make sure that no white birds were around me and prepared to dismount.

"You mean the cuccos?" Angi asked as I jumped down. A loud crow of a pained cucco rang out once my boots hit the ground, or rather the white bird that seemed to magically appear under me.

"You just had to jinx me." I muttered as I glared at the orange fairy. "AAAAHH!" I cried out and ran as a large flock of cuccos started coming after me. "Where did they come from anyway?" Angi was in full blown laughter on Zefrelda's shoulder while the blonde was trying to hold back her own laughter but was failing miserably as I ran around the race track. "Well don't just sit there, do something!" I called to my companions desperately as I passed them sitting at the opening of the horse pin. They only laughed harder at my plea so I started running for the barn door in the back.

I stopped at the door and glanced over my shoulder to see how close the angry fowls were to me. I almost panicked when I noticed that they were only a few feet away. Not wasting time, I rammed my shoulder into the door and barged through, knocking whatever that was against it over. Once I was inside, I slammed the door shut and ended up hitting a few of the cuccos with it in the process. I let out a sigh of relief as I leaned against it but looked behind me when I heard movement.

"Uuuh..." I let out as I saw Link laying on top of Malon on a pile of hay. Both were panting, both were wet, and they both had red faces that were dangerously close to each other. "Am I interrupting something?" They didn't respond, they didn't even move. I walked over to them and snapped my fingers a few times to get their attention once I was sure the cuccos were gone. "Hey, you hear me?" Malon looked over to me and was about to say something but stopped and looked at the barn door as it opened.

"Are you alright Josh?" Zefrelda asked as she walked in but stopped dead in her tracks when she noticed the two in the hay. She brought her hand up in front of her mouth to try and hide her surprise but you could still easily tell since her eyes were as wide as can be. "Uh, I-I'm sorry Malon. I didn't know you were busy." Malon's face reddened to were it was almost as red as her hair.

"Is this what you two do when I'm not around?" I asked with a wide grin. Sure it was my fault for putting them into this situation when I barged through the door, but I just couldn't resist teasing them at least a little bit. He looked up at me with an awkward, innocent smile and nodded in response since he thought I was talking about him helping Malon around the ranch. Technically Link still had the mind of a ten-year-old so he didn't quite understand what his position was suggesting and was only blushing because his face was so close to hers. The girls let out a small gasp and Malon tried to explain what happened but was tripping over her words. I was doing my best to keep my laughing down.

"What's goin' on in here?" Talon asked as he walked in the barn. "What's takin' you two so daggum long? You shoulda been done milkin' a few-" he stopped once he noticed the young man in red laying on top of his daughter on a pile of hay.

"I-it's not what it looks like!" Malon finally managed to speak out.

"Then what happened?" Talon asked expectantly as he crossed his arms and gave the two in the hay a stern look.

"That'd be my fault." I let out between my laughter. "I was being chased by cuccos again and knocked Link into Malon when I barged through the door." I took in a few breaths to calm myself down and pointed to a tipped over pail. "They're wet because I accidently made them spill the bucket of milk on themselves."

"Is that so?" he asked with an unwavering gaze. Link and Malon vigorously nodded their head in agreement. "Hm... Alright, I'll believe ya. I'll go and get the guest room ready." he said with a slow nod and made his way out of the barn. "Oh, and Malon," he popped his head around the door. "I don't mind if you two do that, just make sure you wait awhile."

"DAD!" Malon yelled, grabbing the tipped over pail and threw it straight at the older man's head. He disappeared around the frame just as the metal bucket was about to hit him and my laughter started back up even more than last time. Zefrelda walked over to help the soaked blonde off of the redhead to prevent any awkward hand misplacement while I was leaning against a post and trying to get my laughter under control.

"I-I'm sorry." I managed to let out once I calmed down and noticed Malon's embarrassed glare. "I didn't know you two were in here and I didn't want those dang birds to hurt me anymore than I am." I rubbed my left shoulder since I used it to help open the door when I barged through. Sure it's a bad idea to use a hurt limb to shove a door open but I was too focused on getting away from the evil birds to care at the moment. "Sorry about the milk." The redhead took in a deep breath and let out a sigh.

"It's alright." she said with a cheerful but somewhat annoyed smile after she squeezed some of the milk from her clothes. "I needed to wash up anyway." She got up and walked off to the nearby bathhouse. "Make yourselves at home! You two know that you're always welcome here! Oh and Link, you should wash up after me before you go inside." she called as she walked in. He rung some milk out his red hat and nodded even though Malon couldn't see him.

"You have a blue fairy right Link?" Zefrelda asked getting a nod from him. "Where is it?" We walked out of the barn and he pointed up to the blue glow coming from one of the second-floor windows.

"She's not going be happy when she gets out of that bottle." Angi giggled but Link gave an uncaring shrug making me laugh.

"Just try to keep her from waking me up when you let her out." I chuckled as I walked towards the ranch house. "And sorry about earlier, it was that or be mauled by cuccos." he waved it off as he went to wait out by the washhouse while me, Zefrelda, and Angi went inside the ranch house.

"Welcome to Lon Lon Ranch." Ingo said in a somewhat eery nice manner as we walked passed the living room. "The guest room is ready and waiting at the end of the hall on the second floor. Just let me know if you need anything and I'd be happy to help."

"Uh, thanks but I'm good for now." I said awkwardly as I climbed the stairs. 'Dang Talon, what did you do to him?'

"Would you happen to have any potions?" Zefrelda asked making me freeze half-way up.

"I'm afraid not." the ranch-hand replied making me let out a small sigh of relief. "But we do have bandages, follow me." she signaled for me to go up and wait for her. I obliged and went up to the guest room and sat down on the edge of one of the beds after I kicked my hiking boots off. I took off my leather gauntlets that the Gorons gave me and unraveled the bandage around my right hand.

'Why is the later Gerudo symbol on the back of my hand when the older one is on some of the blocks in the Fire Temple?' I thought as I looked at the faded mark on the back of my hand. 'Now that I think about it, those blocks that we had to push in the Forest Temple had the older one too.' I let out a sigh and stretched but stopped and grimaced when pain shot through my bandaged shoulder.

"I told you not to move around too much." Zefrelda said as she walked in with bandages followed by Angi with a small flask of ointment. "And what do you do?" she asked with a playful but concerned and partially annoyed smile.

"Exactly what you said not to do." I replied with a grin as I lightly rubbed my shoulder. She sighed and set the fresh bandages on the bed while I carefully took the Kokiri tunic off so the old bandages could be replaced. I unwrapped the cloth from around my upper arm and chest to reveal a mostly healed gash on the top of my shoulder. "Ooh, that's gonna be a scar."

"Now are you going to listen now that you know how bad it is?" Angi asked as she carried the small flask over to me.

"Probably not." I chuckled as I took the flask and lightly dabbed the ointment on my cut. I winced a bit from the slight burning but finished and set the flask aside.

"You never did say how you got so hurt." Zefrelda said as she started to wrap my shoulder and chest to keep the bandage in place.

"Just climbed through the lava engulfed Fire Temple, rescued the new Goron Chief, got burned while helping Link slay an evil dragon, and lifted the curse from Death Mountain by killing the fire guardian my impersonator created that cut my arm. Nothing normal." I said with a half shrug since my left shoulder was being wrapped and I didn't want to bump it on Zefrelda's hands.

"How can you say that so lightly?" the blonde asked in shock, but more towards how I didn't seem so worried about it rather than what I actually went through. "That Sheikah was practically dragging you to the well to get you fixed up."

"Because if I took everything I've been through so far seriously, I'd have probably gone crazy a good while back." I said with a partial grin. "If I haven't already of course." I added as I unraveled the bandage on my left hand. "Anyway what about you?" she gave me a questioning look as I put the ointment on the cut on my hand and wrapped it back up. "Your eyes are red. Well redder than usual."

"Someone had to bandage you up and make sure you didn't get any worse." she said as she finished bandaging me up. I shook my head and sighed since I hated being the person that kept people up. "That Sheikah said that he had business elsewhere and asked me to make sure you woke up."

"Thanks." I muttered with a smile as I grabbed my tunic and carefully put it back on. "But you can go to sleep now, I'm fine." I got up and was about to walk out of the room but Angi flew in front of me.

"You're not going anywhere." she said as she fluttered closer to me so I'd back up. "You're injured and I'm not going to let you go around and hurt yourself anymore than you are." I kept backing up but tripped over the foot of my bed and fell back on it with a grunt. "Plus it's passed you bedtime." she added with a giggle.

"I'm eighteen, I don't have a bedtime." I chuckled as I started to sit up but Zefrelda knocked my arm out from under me and sat on my stomach. "There's a perfectly good bed beside me ya'know."

"I know but if I sit there you'd try to get up and probably hurt yourself." the blonde said with a grin.

"Pfft, me hurt myself?" I scoffed playfully as I put my hands behind my head. "I'm too careful to do that."

"Then why did you grab that metal doorknob in the Fire Temple bare-handed?" Angi asked as she landed next to my head. A small frown made its way on my face at the memory.

"Or when you tripped over that plank back in Kakariko?" Zefrelda added with a small laugh. My frown deepened a little more.

"Oor when you let the hookshot slip out of your hand when you were about to go into the Forest Temple?" the fairy giggled.

"I was... distracted." I said but only got a disbelieving smile from them. "Anyway, it's bedtime you two, go to sleep."

"But we're not tired and aren't going to bed until you do." Angi said as she climbed up and lay on my chest.

"Yeah right." I muttered. "Well how about this. I'll tell you a little story about my homeland if you two get off of me."

"Y-you don't have to if you don't want to." Zefrelda said but the way she practically hopped off of me showed that she was a little excited. I smirked at her reaction but sighed as I scooted back and leaned against the headboard of my bed. "I mean the way you've avoided talking about it must mean that it isn't very pleasant." she added a bit solemnly as she sat on the vacant bed beside mine.

"It's not that it's unpleasant. I just don't really know how to explain it." I said with a shrug. "It's a pretty complicated place."

"How so?" Angi asked as she sat down on Zefrelda's shoulder.

"It's got a lot more things for one." I said with a fake yawn in hopes of getting them to go to bed soon so I'd have less to try to explain. "Like wagons that can fly and boats that can travel to the bottom of the sea while keeping its passengers safe." Zefrelda was listening intently but soon let out a yawn which in turn made me yawn.

"How does that work?" Angi asked disbelievingly with her own squeaky yawn. "Magic?"

"No." I laughed while fighting another yawn. "If you haven't noticed, I can't use magic and that goes for all the people like me. Sure there's some that can do some really fancy tricks but that's all it is. We construct everything with materials that we make and find."

"What sort of things do you do Josh?" the blonde asked tiredly as she took her shoes off and laid her head on her pillow.

"Nothing special." I said with another shrug. "Other than being a firefighter, I'd say my life is pretty average."

"Do you enjoy being one?"

"Yeah." I said with another yawn. "It feels good to be able to protect someone's belongings, homes, or even lives from raging fires."

"Do you fight golems like you did back at the Fire Temple?" Angi asked as she curled up on Zefrelda's pillow.

"No." I laughed tiredly. "No magic exists there. Just us, water, and tools to get to the fires. Anyway go to sleep. You two need it more than me." I looked over at their peaceful figures as they covered up and got comfortable. 'If this keeps up, it'll be hard for me to go back home.' I thought with a quiet sigh. 'I'm getting to attached to everyone but I can't just brush them away. Link, Zefrelda, and Tangi have all saved my life at least once in a way. Heh, I'm too nice for my own good.' A tired smirk made its way on my face as I laid down and turned away to keep Angi's dim glow from keeping me awake.

"Josh?" Zefrelda asked quitely.

"Hm?" I responded already half asleep.

"Thanks for telling me. It sounds like your home is quite an interesting place." I simply grunted in response. "Do you think that it's changed much in seven years?" I didn't hear the last part since I was already sound asleep.

* * *

Hope it turned out alright. I lost count on how many times I yawned while writing the last part and I'm a bit iffy about a few parts but hey, so goes those parts for a first time story right? =D

Anyway, tell me how ya liked it! Good, Bad, Confusing, Funny, or whatever else. Let me know so I can clear it up later if need be!


	12. Warm Deliveries to Cold Discoveries

Another kinda late chapter but I was in a pretty long battle with a writer's worst enemy. The notorious Writer's Block. I eventually prevailed, just later than I had hoped. Anyway new chapter's up so enjoy!

* * *

"_One must be wary when dealing with the powers of darkness." A heavenly voice echoed throughout a dark field. "Especially if one is unaware of its dangers." The darkness started to gather together and take the shape of the newer Gerudo symbol. It began to pulsate with purple waves of energy that seemed to flare out a bit. The waves slowly increased in frequency and soon grew out of control, pulsating and giving off energy sporadically. "Your kindness and actions have given you a burden that will grow to a dangerous level if you are not careful." _

"_But know this," the woman's voice started fading out as a golden light began to surround the Gerudo symbol and stabilize it. "Your actions have also brought back some peace and earned you great respect from many for doing so." The golden light took the shape of a triangle made up of three other smaller triangles with the Gerudo symbol in the middle space. "Hold true to your bonds. For without them, you may be consumed by what you do not quite understand." The golden triangle then began to glow and the field was engulfed in its bright light._

~ sc ~

I was roused from my sleep due to a small but very warm presence on the upper part of my chest. I looked down to see that my necklace had a bright glow to it but soon dimmed down to it's normal shine from the morning sun peaking through my window. I gingerly grabbed it with my left hand but it had returned to the cool feel of a simple gold necklace.

"Weird." I muttered sleepily as I turned over to try to get back to sleep. Before I could completely close my eyes, I noticed that the bed beside mine was vacant of any sleeping figures.

"Zefrelda?" I asked groggily as I scanned the room. "Tangi?" I sat up to get a better look but didn't notice any of the girls in the room.

A small scraping sound made itself known and it sounded very close to me. Not seeing anything that could make the noise made me go on alert and grab the Kokiri sword off of the small table beside me. I unsheathed it and quietly crawled out of my bed to look for the intruder. I got down on my hands and knees to look under my bed and lifted the hanging cover. A small white bird was hiding under it and crowed as loud as it could right in my face once it noticed me.

"Aaah!" I yelled as I fell back and dropped the small sword. "Grr, stupid cucco!" I growled as I grabbed it. I carried the flailing mass of white feathers over to my window, pulled my foot back, and kicked the annoying bird straight out of the glassless frame. I sat back down on my bed and put my boots and gloves on since I was too awake to go back to sleep. I was about to put the Kokiri sword on my belt after I sheathed it but the clucking of multiple cuccos grabbed my attention before I could. I looked over to my window and noticed a flock of them flying towards my window.

"You've got to be kidding me!" I yelled as I dashed to my door but was rewarded with a loud thud. I stumbled back, yanked it open, slammed it behind me, and ran down the hallway only to trip and tumble down the stairs before crashing into the wall that marked the direction change of the staircase. "Oooooooow." I groaned as I slowly picked myself up with a grunt and partially limped to the kitchen table where everyone was sitting at or near with a shocked look on their faces. I sent a half-glare at Link since he was at least trying to hold back his laughter.

"Just like last time." Angi giggled as I plopped down in a chair on the opposite side of Link. "I told you putting that cucco under his bed would wake him up." I sent a glare her way since she was apparently the one who told whoever to put the cucco under my bed. "Hey I didn't put it there." she said defensively once she noticed my glare. "Link's the one that did it." He gave an apologetic smile but sent his own little glare at the orange fairy for ratting him out. I chuckled a little despite my frustration, mild pain, and irritation from their actions since they at least succeeded in waking me up.

"You alright son?" Talon asked in concern as I plopped down in a chair. "That looked like a pretty nasty fall."

"I've been better but I'll be fine." I said with a partial grin as I rubbed my left shoulder since I landed on it a few times during my fall. 'Damn deja vu.' I complained mentally. Talon didn't seem satisfied with my answer but didn't push it and walked out to start the day's work.

"Here drink this." Malon said as she held a bottle out to me. "Lon Lon Milk'll make you forget a little about the pain." she added with a cheerful smile. I nodded gratefully and took the bottle, but struggled a bit to open it since the cork was stuck.

"Where did you get that bottle from Malon?" Ingo asked as I finally pried the cork out with a satisfying pop. The redhead pointed up to a shelf that had similar bottles as I put mine to my lips. "Oh that's not Lon Lon Milk." he added as he grabbed a pitchfork and walked off to the barn. My eyes widened in horror and I spit out what little of the white liquid that made it inside my mouth. Her face turned red from embarrassment when she heard me gagging and coughing.

"Please tell me that's not what I think it is." I muttered as I wiped my lips. Zefrelda grabbed the bottle and read the label. I was wiping my tongue when I noticed Link glaring at me. "What?" I asked in confusion until I saw the liquid from my bottle dripping off his face. "Oh... sorry." He let out a sigh and walked off to the washroom with a giggling blue fairy in tow.

"Does horse milk taste that bad?" Zefrelda asked as she put the bottle down and corked it, making me let out a sigh of relief.

"I can't say that it does but it doesn't taste as good a Lon Lon milk." I replied with a few more coughs. "So thanks for the milk Malon but how about I get my own from now on?" I asked the redhead with a forced smile. "I'd rather not have another one of your 'special' bottles like the first one you gave me." she gave me a questioning look but smiled sheepishly when she remembered the first night I stayed here.

"Try this." Zefrelda said as she handed me a cup of freshly brewed tea. "I'm sure it'll taste better than what you just drank." I nodded my thanks and took a sip of the warm drink. I let out a content sigh as the liquid seemed to wash away any worries I may have had.

"But, wait..." Malon said in a confused tone. "Now that I think about it, you look exactly the same as you did then."

"Time travel." I said simply with a shrug as I took another sip. "The necklace Zelda gave me sent me through time when Ganondorf attacked me." She was about to ask something else but the sound of a small tussle outside caught our attention. We crowded around a window to see Link struggling to get free from two green-clad Gerudo that had him pinned to the ground. I quickly looked around for anything I could use to help him out. I noticed the Master Sword propped up against a coat rack in the corner and ran over to it. I picked it up by the sheath, which strangely had a very warm feel to it in my right hand, and ran outside to help the blonde Hylian.

"Don't! You're still hurt!" Angi called but I ignored her and rammed one of the Gerudo with my good shoulder to knock her off of the red clad Hero of Time. With less weight on him, Link was able to throw the second one off of him. I tossed him his sword once he got up which he unsheathed and stood beside me ready to fight. Despite us being at a disadvantage with me having an injured shoulder, being unarmed and Link being shieldless due to Volvagia melting his shield, the two Gerudo backed up as if they were matched against an army. After a few more steps, the two Gerudo ran off without looking back. Link and I shared a confused glance but shrugged and walked back to the ranch house.

"You two aren't hurt are you?" Malon asked in concern as we walked back into the house.

"Nope, we're perfectly fine!" Link said cheerily as he patted my left shoulder, unaware that it was injured. I grimaced and knocked his hand away out of reflex.

"Oh so you talk to her and not me?" I half-joked as I lightly rubbed where he hit.

"I drank some Lon Lon Milk earlier so my throat isn't sore now." he said as we all sat back down at the table. "I didn't get the chance to say anything because I had to go and wash the stuff off that you spit on me."

"That was partially your fault for putting your face in the way." I said casually as it took another sip of my tea. Link was about to argue but Zefrelda beat him to talking.

"Either way, that was careless of both of you." she stated getting a confused look from all of us.

"Both of us?" I asked. "Sure I ran into a fight with a hurt shoulder but I wouldn't call that careless if I was doing it to give Link his sword... okay maybe I would but it worked didn't it?"

"That's not what I'm talking about." she said with a sigh and pointed at my head. I ran my hand through my hair and simply raised an eyebrow out of confusion.

"You ran outside without your hat." Angi said as she lightly tugged on my ears.

"What's so bad about that?" I asked as I shooed the orange fairy away. "Oh... crap." I said once I remembered that the green-eyed rogue Gerudo told me that they weren't very fond of Ganondorf and his servant just happened to look very much like me.

"Exactly," Zefrelda said as she got up. "We need to get you two out of here before they show up with more." A rather loud knock rung out from the front door just as the rest of us got up.

"Wow they work fast." Navi muttered as Malon grabbed me and Link by the back of are tunics and practically dragged us over to a closet. Zefrelda opened the door but quickly jumped back and let out a small scream when a few rats came scurrying out.

"Oh don't even-" I was cut off by Malon throwing me in first and Link on top of me.

"Go get their equipment, I'll say that they already left." Malon said to Zefrelda as she shut the door. Another set of heavy knocks came from the front door springing the girls into action. The blonde ran up the stairs as the redhead calmly walked to the door.

"What can I help you... with?" she asked as she opened the door and was met with a Goron standing by a small cart.

"Hiya, I was told to deliver a few things here when they were finished." he said cheerily. "Would Mr. Dodongo Buster or Mr. Golem Slayer be here?" he asked hopefully.

"Uh... who?" Malon asked in confusion as Zefrelda came down carrying the Kokiri sword and Link's pouch that he usually has on the back of his belt.

"Oh, a Goron." the blonde said in relief. "It's okay boys, it's safe to come out." Just as she finished saying that, the door to the closet burst open with Link stumbling out and falling to the floor.

"Why is it that every time you're on me, your butt just happens to find its place on my face?" I muttered as I walked out of the closet while brushing dust off of me. "Oh and Malon," I started as I fished around in my leg pocket, "your closet has a few rats in it." I pulled out a small rat and let it jump back into its 'home'. Link pulled off his hat so two smaller rats could drop out and run back into the closet. Zefrelda shuddered a bit at the sight of them so I closed the door once they went back inside. "What? Don't like rats?" I asked with a grin. The red-eyed blonde shook her head making me chuckle.

"Brothers!" the Goron cried happily as he ran in and scooped me and Link into a strong hug. We struggled to get free but he already had us and was nearly crushing us.

"Uh... Mr. Goron?" Malon asked in order to draw his attention from breaking us in two with his large arms. "What was it that you came to deliver?"

"Oh of course." he said as he dropped us to the ground and walked back to his cart. While he was rummaging around for the goods he was to deliver, Malon and Zefrelda walked over to help me and Link up from the floor. "A sword and shield made by Big Goron for the Heroes who gave our home back to us." he had a wide grin on his face as he gave Link the shield and me the sword.

"Huh, I thought it'd be a bit bigger than this if Big Goron made it." I said thoughtfully as I pulled the broadsword out of its sheath. It was about an inch wider than the Master Sword and only a few inches longer with a fairly simple design that had the Goron symbol engraved in the middle of the hand guard. "This could probably pass as a toothpick for him."

"Big Goron said he never had the chance of meeting you so he made it to where the Hero of the Gorons could use it easily, but he added a little to the hilt just in case it was a bit heavy."

"I could use it with one." I said as I carefully took a few practice so as not to hit anything. "But it'd probably be better to use both, thanks a lot by the way."

"Don't worry about it." he said waving it off. "The shield is basically the same as your average metal one but it is a bit more resistant to fire." Link smiled gratefully as he put it on his back over his sword. "Now as far as payment goes..." he trailed off and walked back to his cart.

"Payment? Aw crap I don't have any money!" I whispered to the others.

"Big Goron didn't say anything about having to pay for the delivery so I didn't bring any." the red-eyed blonde whispered.

"Well what are we supposed to do?" Link asked quietly getting us all to stare at him. "Don't look at me I'm broke." he whispered defensively. "I spent all of my money trying to find Talon's special cuccos." I gave him a blank stare at his excuse.

"Are you serious?" I muttered. He simply nodded his head making me slap my forehead.

"What? It's addictive."

"We could always run out on him." Navi suggested.

"Too late." Malon muttered as the Goron came back with two sheets of paper and a small bottle of ink.

"As payment I would like for the two of you to sign your names." he said as he gave both me and Link a quill.

"That's it?" I asked getting a nod and a wide grin in response. I shrugged and dipped the quill into the ink in order to write my signature on the blank piece of paper. The whole time we were writing, the Goron was practically shaking with excitement and snatched the papers up when we were done. He was almost dancing around a bit until he noticed my signature.

"Uh, what does this say Mr. Golem Slayer?" he asked as he stared at it.

"That's how I write my name where I'm from." I said with a somewhat uneasy grin. "I'm from far away and we write differently than you do here." He seemed a little skeptical for a few seconds but soon continued to prance around happily.

"Thank you so much you two!" he cheered as he brought me and Link into another near-bone crushing hug which we didn't hesitate to let him know of our discomfort. A few seconds later he dropped us and ran back to his cart. "Thank you for giving me an autograph to give to my son! He'll be so happy!" After putting our signatures in a safe spot on his cart, he pulled it off in the direction of his home to give the papers to his son.

"Nice guy." I chuckled as I continued to lay on the floor and stare at the ceiling. "Just wish he didn't give that last hug."

"Why do you say that?" Link asked as he picked himself up. "At least it wasn't as bad as the first one."

"Yeah, let him hug you again without your shield on you back." I said as he offered to help me up.

"I'll pass." he said with a grin as I grabbed his hand. He pulled me up and I rolled my neck and shoulders to make sure they were in the proper position.

"Thought so." I chuckled as I grabbed my new sword and put it on my back with the leather strap that came with it. "Mind if I hold onto this a little longer?" I asked as I held up the Kokiri sword from the table Zefrelda put his equipment on. "I'd rather have a back-up weapon incase something suddenly comes up." He nodded his consent and I strapped it in its usual place on my lower back. "Well I think we'd better head out now, wouldn't want my 'fans' getting in the way."

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Zefrelda asked making me stop just as I opened the door. I did a quick pat-down on myself to check what I had. Necklace, Big Goron sword, Kokiri sword, empty bottle, gloves, boots, pants, tunic...

"Of course." I let out as I smacked myself in the forehead. I walked back over to the table and grabbed the cup of tea I had yet to finish. "How could I have forgotten about this?" I asked with a grin as I held it up and drank the rest. "Alrighty Link, let's go."

"Where to?" he asked as he put on his pouch making me stop in mid-step to think.

"Let's go to Zora's Domain." Navi suggested. "We've already helped the Kokiri and Gorons. We should go check on the Zora to make sure they're alright." Link and I shared a nod of agreement and headed out to find Epona. Link pulled out his ocarina and played her song to call the auburn horse to us. Link climbed up and held out his hand to help me up. I was about to grab it and climb up but the ranch house door caught my attention when it opened up.

"Were you just planning on leaving me here?" Zefrelda asked playfully as she walked out with Malon behind her. I turned around and gave her a confused expression. "Hyrule Field is dangerous for a girl like me to go through alone."

"Looks like you've got someone else to protect Tangi." I joked as the red-eyed blonde whistled for her horse. When Ocean Roll ran over to us, I climbed on him and helped Zefrelda get on behind me after I put my sword on the saddle so she'd be able to hold on easier. Link gave me a questioning look as we started to head out. "More room." I said with a shrug.

"You five be careful ya hear?" Malon called as she waved to us. We all waved back and set off for Zora's Domain.

~ sc ~

"Ya know, this place was a lot less creepy the last time I saw it." I said as we pulled up to the path that lead to Zora's Domain. A light fog was interfering with our visibility of the river as it continued beside the path we needed to go on.

"You were also gone the last seven years and didn't witness what Ganondorf's power did to the Zoras." Angi said as she fluttered around me.

"Oh let me guess, he turned them into fishsicles." I said with a grin but only got a blank stare from all of them. "Uh, trapped in ice blocks."

"No one knows." Zefrelda said from behind me. "The Zora haven't been seen in the last few years, and with the fog appearing near their domain, no one has dared to go look for them."

"Until today." Link said as he hopped down from Epona and got his gear situated.

"You two will be careful right?" the red-eyed blonde asked as she got down from Ocean Roll so I could dismount more easily. "Especially since you're still hurt."

"Of course." I said with a grin but my foot got caught in the stirrup and made me stumble forward which made her let out a small sigh. Luckily, Link was in front of me so I wouldn't fall into the river. Unfortunately for him, my momentum was transferred to him which caused him to fall into the river with a loud splash. "Haha, sorry Link." I walked back over to the tan horse and put my sword on my back. "Hey who killed the sun?" I asked as my vision went black. I pulled off the cloth that was pulled over my face to see Zefrelda already on Ocean Roll and making her way back to the Kakariko camp with Epona right behind her.

"You really should remember your hat more often." she laughed as she looked back at us with a smile but then grew a little more serious. "This fog is undoubtably caused by some sort of Ganondorf's dark magic. You two need to be ready for anything."

"Alright, you be careful heading back." I called as I walked over to the riverbank and held my hand out for Link. He grabbed it but instead of pulling himself out of the river, he decided to get a little payback and pull me in with him. When I hit the water, Angi, Link, and Navi all went into a small fit of laughter but stopped when I resurfaced. I gave Link a stern look which made him give me an uneasy smile. I soon started laughing myself before dunking him under the water and swam over to the opposite bank so he couldn't get me back again. He resurfaced and swam after me while the fairies followed with their own fit of giggles.

~ sc ~

"So, you've finally come." a rather animalistic voice chuckled as its piercing yellow eyes reflected what it was watching on a crystal wall. "I was starting to get chills from waiting so long." the owner of the voice lightly laughed at its own joke as it focused on the figure in a green tunic that was accompanied by another figure in a red tunic with two fairies following them. "If the cold does not stop you, I will personally see to it that this cavern will be the last place you will set foot in. Enjoy your laughter while you can."

~ sc ~

The roar of the waterfall that hides the entrance to Zora's Domain echoed off of the rocky walls as we drew near to it. The fog had seemed to grow more dense the closer we got. On top of that, the mist from the waterfall reduced our visibility that much more.

"Is it just me or does it feel like it's freezing?" I asked as we climbed up natural stone archways that lead to a platform about halfway up the waterfall.

"Now that you mention it, it does feel like it's a bit colder than when we started following the river." Angi said as Link pulled out his ocarina. He brought the blue instrument to his lips and began to play Zelda's Lullaby. I hummed along with him and was surprised to see the waterfall split to reveal a passage that lead into the mountain. Sure I expected it to happen, but it's not everyday you see music somewhat control the way water falls off of a cliff.

"Feels fine to me." Link said as he jumped to the hidden passage. I followed but was splashed by some of the water that fell around me.

"How can you say that?" I asked as I took off my hat so I could ring some of the water out. "I mean we both swam through the river, walked through a large cloud of mist, and there's a cool breeze coming from this tunnel. How can you not be at least a little bit cold?" I looked over at him as we walked down the tunnel and noticed three glows. One blue, one orange, and one red that was coming from his right hand. To my surprise, he looked as if he was taking a walk through Hyrule field on a sunny day. He looked completely dry and it seemed a little warmer the closer I got to him.

"You cheater!" I laughed as I realized what he was doing. "You're using magic to keep yourself dry." he simply grinned and continued walking. "That's just wrong. I mean I'm practically freezing now and you're just waltzing around with a built-in heater."

"Then warm yourself up." Navi said as she landed on Link's shoulder so she didn't have to feel the bite of the now freezing temperature as we reached Zora's Domain, or rather a frozen version of it. Link stopped and took in the scene before him with his eyes wide open in shock. Luckily for me, the warmth from Link's magic was reaching out far enough to keep me protected from the near frigid air and was also drying out the water that clung to me.

"I hope the Zora are alright." I muttered as I walked to the edge of a rocky path and looked into the ice. My eyes widened when I saw that a few Zora's were frozen in the solidified water. "Oh man." I breathed making Link run over to me. He clenched his fist in anger when he saw the fear etched on the fish-peoples' faces. "Ah! Easy Link!" I half-yelled to get his attention so he'd calm down and reduce the amount of magic he was letting out. "Let's go look around and see if there are any that managed to get away." He nodded and we followed the path in hopes of finding life.

"This is horrible." Angi let out as we walked deeper into the domain. Zora were frozen in almost every body of water there was here, each with the same look of fear on their face. Some were even frozen in walls that use to have waterfalls running down them. When we rounded the top of the pathway, I ended up jumping back in surprise and grabbed the hilt of my sword when I saw iced over Zora warriors holding their spears at us. Only difference with these Zora was that they had a sort of shell armor and had a look of determination and defiance on what could be seen of their faces.

"Even the Royal Guards." Link growled as he focused the heat he was radiating into his right hand and brought it up.

"Stop." I said calmly as I grabbed his wrist before he could slam his fist on the ground and release a wave of fire. "Sure you'll melt the ice that they're imprisoned in, but the drastic change in temperature will likely kill them. We're better off finding what the cause of this curse is and destroy it." He forced out a sigh and nodded. I let go of his wrist once I felt warmth radiating from him and walked up to the huge fish on an equally huge throne that was incased in red ice.

"Even the proud King Zora." Angi muttered sadly as she landed on my right shoulder.

"You've met him?" I asked as I looked over him and noticed a surprisingly calm expression.

"No, but I've heard stories from the Zora that visited the Lost Woods every-so-often."

"This isn't normal ice." the Navi observed as she fluttered over to us with Link right behind her.

"What was your first clue." I asked a little more sarcastically than I intended.

"Well first off it's red instead of blue." she shot back. "Secondly, it's not cold." Out of curiosity I walked over and touched the red prison. Strangely enough, it actually had a fairly warm feel to it. "And thirdly, even the flames on the torches are frozen in it." It was rather hard to see the still flames inside the red ice but it was true. Every torch in the large throne room was incased in it along with the fire.

"It's colder over here." Link said thoughtfully. "The source must be coming from Zora's Fountain." We walked down the tunnel behind the pair of thrones and were mildly shocked to see more fog that was quite a bit denser than at the waterfall. Just for kicks, I drew the Kokiri sword and maneuvered the blade in two circles. One somewhat big and a smaller one in the middle of the bigger one.

"What are you doing?" Angi asked as I grabbed at where I made the circles.

"About to eat a donut." I laughed as I brought the circle of condensed fog to my mouth. 'I can't believe it worked.' Just as I was about to bite down on it, Angi flew over and rammed into the back of my hand. The sudden force caused me to drop the circular cloud and disperse when it hit the cold ground. "Hey!"

"Don't 'hey' me. This fog is made by dark magic." the orange orb chastised. "You can't just go around trying to eat it. There's no telling what it would do to you." I was about to argue but I ended up slipping on the slick ice that we had been walking on for the past few minutes and accidently pushed Link into an alter-like platform.

"What happened to Lord Jaba Jaba?" he asked once he used the stony staircase to help himself up. "You don't think-"

"Don't think like that Link." I said as I ungracefully made my way over to him. "He probably buried himself in the lake bed so he wouldn't be seen or something." I added with a shrug. "Tangi, Navi, can you two go and look for some sort of cave? It's gonna be a pain to get over this ice and I'd rather know where we're going." Both fairies nodded and flew off into the fog.

"You think they'll be alright?" Link asked in slight worry as he watched the two lights fade into the white.

"Yep, I've seen Tangi easily beat down a deku baba on her own." I replied with a grin. "As for Navi... she'll just nag whatever messes with her to death."

"I h-heard that!" Navi called back, though it was a little shaky. Link laughed at my reaction when I found out I was heard. A few seconds later, both fairies came racing back and crashed into Link's chest.

"What's wrong?" I asked as I grabbed my sword's hilt in case something was coming.

"It's c-cold out there." Angi stuttered making me laugh. "But we did find a c-cave that the fog looked like it was coming o-out of."

"Yeah it's on the opposite side of the ice." Navi said with a content sigh at being back in range of Link's magic. "There's nothing to help you across but it looks like it could hold your weight."

"So it's that way?" I asked as I pointed straight ahead getting a nod from the blue fairy. "I think I know how we can get across easily." I said with a grin. "Get on the ice and stand on your shield Link." he gave me a questioning look but did so. I carefully walked a little bit ahead of him and slammed the tip of my sword into the ice enough to where it wouldn't wiggle too much. "I'm gonna sling you to the other side." I said as I grabbed the hilt of my sword and held my other hand out to him. "When you get to the cave, slide your shield back to me." he nodded and grabbed my hand. I pulled on my sword to help add force to my swing and sent him skidding over the ice and into the dense fog.

"Watch out for monsters!" Angi called with a giggle but soon stopped and flew over to me to snuggle against my neck. I was about to ask what was up but soon realized why. I had just thrown our main source of heat over an iced over lake. I'm one of those people who's grown and lived in the warm climate for their entire life, the place where, on the rare occasion, snow falls and rarely sticks to where you can play in it. On top of that, I was only dressed in a pair of cargo pants, a light tunic that covered a little more than a T-shirt would, and hiking boots... not your particular winter wear.

"Hurry up! It's freezing over here!" I called into the white fog as I wrapped my arms around myself.

"Here it comes!" Link yelled followed by an increasingly loud scraping sound. I saw that the metal shield was sliding my way rather fast and was just able to jump over it. It slid behind me and crashed into the stone alter with a loud clang.

"Phew, that woulda hurt if it hit me." I let out as I wrenched my sword free of the ice and sheathed it. I carefully made my way over to the platform and placed the shield right in front of the stone. I walked onto the platform and backed up so I could get a running start. "Straight ahead right Tangi?" I asked and felt her nod. I sprinted forward and jumped onto the shield, letting my momentum carry me to the cave as I ice-boarded over the frozen lake. "Oh crap!" I yelled and brought my arms up just as I crashed into the rocky wall. "Ow." I muttered as I got up, picked up the shield, and climbed up onto the low ledge of the cave.

"You alright?" Link asked as he walked over to me.

"Yeah." I muttered which made him laugh. I refrained from hitting him with his own shield and simply handed it to him. "So," I began, happy that I was back in range of his magic, "lets go break that curse." He nodded and we walked further into the snow filled cave.

For the first few minutes, the only thing we saw were icicles hanging from the ceiling and others jutting out of the walls and floor with the occasional random formation of red ice. We made it to a somewhat large opening where multiple icicles dangled from the ceiling and snow wasn't covering as much of the rocky floor.

"Alright, which way?" I asked as we came up to two separate pathways. Before Link could say anything, a loud howl rang out causing all of us to grasp our ears to muffle the noise. The clicking of ice was barely audible over the ear-straining cry. I looked up to see the icicles shaking enough for a few small ones to fall around us. Since Angi's, Link's, and Navi's ears were a bit more sensitive than mine, they were too busy trying to protect their ears to notice the ice and snow falling from above us.

Another howl was given off causing the icicles to shake more violently. My eyes widened in horror as the large icicles above us broke off and plummeted toward us. I shoved Link to the right and dove to the left in order to dodge the ice shards that more than likely would've killed us. A large plume of snow followed right behind the ice, effectively cutting me and Link off from each other.

"Josh, are you alright?" Link called once he got up and ran to the cave-in.

"Other than a sore shoulder and being covered in snow, I'm fine." I called back. "How about you and Navi?" the mention of his fairy reminded me of mine. "Tangi? Tangi where are you?"

"Under here." she called weakly springing me to immediately start digging in the snow for her. A few seconds later, I could see her glow and quickly scooped her up.

"Tangi. Tangi!" I half-yelled to the dimming fairy. I brushed away the snow and held her close to me.

"Josh what's wrong?" Link asked in worry. "What's going on?" before I could answer, Angi curled up and let out a content sigh.

"Much better." she mumbled happily. I let out an annoyed sigh but smiled softly at her.

"Nothin', we're fine." I replied as I stood up and looked back at the cave-in. "We might as well go down our tunnels and see where they lead. If either of us reach a dead end we should come back and try to get to the other."

"But what about you?" he asked. "You'll be cold without me. If you give me a few minutes I could probably melt all of this."

"That wouldn't work, I saw a few things of red ice while I was digging Tangi out, plus you'd just use up all of your magic for one pile of snow." I replied. "If it gets too bad I'm pretty sure my necklace will kick in."

"And if it doesn't?" Navi asked somewhat worriedly.

"Then I'm screwed until you come and get me." I chuckled as I started to walk down my tunnel. "Be careful you two!"

"You two, uh, too!" he called back as he went down his path as well.

~ sc ~

"Hmhmhmhm, so bringing down the house didn't work huh?" an animalistic voice chuckled as it watched a green figure and an orange light make their way through rocky tunnels coated in snow and ice. "Perhaps it's time I give you your final look at the snow." With that said, a snow-white, hairy creature got up and walked off to 'greet' its 'guest of honor'.

~ sc ~

I continued my trek through the ice cavern with Angi hiding in my hat so she'd be warm. The air had felt like it dropped a few degrees as I went deeper into the cave and the occasional breeze didn't help in the least. On the bright side, the thick fog had cleared up and my vision was only obstructed by the white clouds that were made from my warm breath. As I passed an opening in the wall, a blue glow caught my attention.

"Finally, something to warm up with." I said as I walked over to the platform with a large blue flame coming off of it. I stretched my hands forward but yelped in pain and quickly brought them back.

"What'd you do? Burn yourself?" Angi giggled as she stuck her head out from under my hat. "I know it's cold but you shouldn't stick your hands in a fire."

"It wasn't hot, it was... cold." I said as I slowly flexed my hands to break off the thin layer of ice that appeared on them. "Weird, but I guess it makes a little sense. The red ice is warm and the blue fire is cold."

"Maybe we can use it to get rid of red ice." the orange fairy said thoughtfully. I pulled the bottle out of my leg pocket and quickly swiped it over the flames to avoid frostbite. I corked the glass container once I had a small amount in it and watched as the flame flickered inside of the bottle. I turned to continue walking down the path but a sudden red glow appeared behind me causing a large shadow to appear on the cavern wall. Growing a little worried, I slowly turned to see that the blue flame had turned red and taken the shape of dancing woman with long hair.

"Uh, Tangi?" I asked to get her attention in case she was still in my hat. "You're seeing this too right?" Before she could say anything, another howl echoed throughout the walls of the cave, though it seemed a bit louder than when I was with Link. The spear-like icicles above me shook violently and broke loose from the ceiling. Before the shards of ice could come in contact with me however, the flaming woman ran to me and dispersed into a dome of fire that melted the oncoming ice.

"What just-" I was cut off by another, less fierce howl along with a strong tingling in my right hand. 'So there's a guardian here too?' I thought as I looked at my slightly quivering hand.

"Are you okay?" Angi asked as she flew out of my hat.

"Yeah, but there's one of those guardian things running around." I said as I clenched my fist in an attempt to suppress the tingling. I drew my sword and continued down the path. "And it's nearby, stay alert."

"It looks like you survived." an animalistic voice snarled from somewhere in the cavern around me once I entered a somewhat large opening. I looked around but didn't see anything other than the dark walls with crystals scattered all over it. The crystals seemed to emit their own light and looked as if they were stars in a pale night sky. "And without as much as a scratch." a pile of snow beside me started moving which made me face it and prepare for something to jump out at me.

"Behind you!" Angi yelled making me dive to the side just in time as a white werewolf lunged at me from another pile of snow behind me. I rolled to my feet and glanced at the scratch it made on my right shoulder. I glared at the creature and noticed it was very similar to a white wolfos but seemed a bit more human-like. It stood on it's hind legs and had a slight hunched stature. Its black claws extended a few inches from the tips of its fingers and its teeth shown from the light that seemed to come from the frozen cavern itself.

"You are one ugly puppy." I muttered as I took slow steady breaths to keep myself calm and held my sword at the ready. "You must be the reason for all of this ice."

"Yes, a rather cool place if I do say so myself." it replied with a sort of toothy grin as it lunged at me again. I jumped back but its claws nicked my cheek just deep enough to draw blood. Once I got my footing, I swung my sword but the werewolf brought its arm up and blocked it. "Your strong, but you can't beat me here." it growled as it pushed back and swiped at me again. I brought my left arm up to try and deflect his attack as I jumped back since I knew I couldn't get out of the way in time. Its claws sliced across my gauntlet but the Dodongo hide did its job and held strong. I used the force of the werewolf's attack to add to the momentum of my spin and slammed my sword into its side.

"Don't be so sure!" I kicked it so as to push myself away and knock it back so I'd be out of range of its next swipe. "I've destroyed two of you, and one of them was on its own turf."

"That may be true but I've clearly got the advantage." it snarled as it dove into a pile of snow beside it. I stood still and listened carefully for any noise. Not hearing any, I slowly crept forward until an icicle crashed to the ground behind me. I spun around but didn't see anything.

"Look out!" Angi screamed making me dive to the side again just as the werewolf struck out at my back. It growled out of frustration for missing me and dove back into the snow.

'If I could use Din's fire I wouldn't have to worry about it jumping out from the snow at me.' I thought as I scanned the white powder for movement. 'Wait a minute, wasn't that Din's fire when-'

"Behind you!" I snapped out of my thoughts and dove away but wasn't quite able to dodge the full attack. Its claws racked across my right side but not deep enough to cause major damage. I clutched my side and shivered a little from a cold chill that ran through my body.

"What's the matter? The cold finally getting to you?" it taunted with a wicked grin. I glared at the werewolf as it looked over its claws as if observing a manicure. I still kept my breathing steady but the cold was making it harder to do so. "Maybe I should end this since its rather boring. But not before I do this." It lunged forward with its left claw set ablaze with blue fire and made a grab for my right shoulder. I jumped back but my movements were sluggish and couldn't get out of reach in time. When the fire touched me, pain shot through my arm as ice quickly formed where its claw was. I punched at the snow creature with my left arm but missed as it jumped back. "Sorry to give you the cold shoulder." it chuckled darkly.

"Your puns suck." I growled as I tried to brush the ice off. "W-what the hell?" I asked in shock as the ice slowly but steadily crept along my arm.

"In a matter of moments, your entire body will be incased in ice much like all of the Zora." It laughed as it ran at me. I slashed at it a few times but the wolf creature simply moved to the side and ran its claws over me a few more times with its cold burning claws. My body was growing numb as the ice from the werewolf's strikes connected and slowly made its way to my head. "Either destroy me or melt the ice with magic. Your choice." it grinned its wicked grin and slowly walked around me, watching the ice engulf me.

"Oh but you can't use magic can you?" it asked tauntingly. "Too bad."Angi flew over and rammed into the werewolf's face but it simply laughed at her attempt to save me. Seeing she wasn't getting anywhere with that, she flew over to me and started chipping at the ice. Unfortunately, the ice was creeping faster than she could get rid of it and was now at my neck.

'Crap, I can't move!' I thought on the verge of panicking. 'C'mon Link hurry up! Just how long is your stupid tunnel anyway?' Suddenly, the ice stop moving and a warm sensation grew on my chest. The warmth quickly spread throughout my body allowing the feeling to come back. On top of that, the ice that clung to me was melting and grew weak enough for me to move and break out of.

"I-Imposible!" it growled in disbelief as I shook the rest of the ice off of me. "There's no way you could've done that on your own!"

"Exactly!" I yelled as I lunged forward and slashed my blade across the creatures face. It jumped back and clutched at the gash that stretched across its snout after dispelling the flames on its claws. Not giving it a chance to retaliate, I ran up to it and gave another slash across its torso. Before I could send another attack its way, the werewolf dove into a nearby snow pile.

"Are you alright? I thought you were a goner." Angi said frantically and sadly at the same time.

"So did I." I breathed as I carefully scanned the area. "If my necklace didn't do anything I would have but other than the cuts and being a little tired I'm fine."

"Watch out!" the orange orb cried. Instead of jumping out of the way, I spun around and slashed at the white creature. My sword sunk into its left arm but its right claw caught my sore left shoulder. I grimaced and kicked away, being sure to drag my blade along its arm for good measure. "Alright you got'em good!" Angi cheered as she saw the werewolf growl and clutch its dangling limb.

"Yeah, he got me too." I muttered while trying to keep my breathing under control and ignore the sharp pain that ran through me from all of its attacks. She let out a small gasp when she saw that my shoulder was bleeding like when the fire guardian's sword hit me. "But I'm pretty sure he's worse off than me." I watched him carefully as he glared menacingly at me while holding his slightly limp arm. "I can still use mine but I'm not so sure if it can." The sound of crunching snow from the tunnel caught my attention and I looked over to see what it was.

"DIE!" the werewolf snarled as it took advantage of my distraction and charged at me. Slow motion kicked in as I snapped my head back and brought my sword up to block the creature. Unfortunately, it hit my sword with so much force that it knocked the weapon out of my hands and sent it sliding across the floor. Its body kept coming and its jaws were ready to clamp down on me. I brought my right arm up and shoved my forearm as close to the joint as I could to keep it away from my face. It growled from missing its intended target and bit down harder, just barely getting its teeth to penetrate my gauntlet. It was about to bring its arm back and impale me with its claws but I drew the Kokiri sword that was still on my lower back and shoved it through the side of the creatures neck. It froze with its eyes wide open as the small blade slightly stuck out the other side. "I guess... she favors you... more." it choked out almost inaudibly as its jaws slackened and arm fell harmlessly to the ground beside me. Its body disintegrated into small purple particles that gathered in the center of the room.

"Looks like I got'em." I muttered as I got up with a grunt and sheathed the small sword. Some of the particles condensed into an orb that slowly floated down to me.

"Wait!" Angi yelled, stopping me from grabbing it. "We don't know what it'll do to you."

"True but it's already happened twice and the only thing that has change is that my hand tingles whenever I'm near them." I said as I looked at my right hand and then to her. "It's like I can sense them, plus its better to be with me than running around causing trouble for everyone right?"

"I suppose." she replied with a sigh. "But I still don't like the idea of you absorbing dark magic."

"Neither do I." I slightly chuckle as I closed my hand around the orb. Once it went inside my hand, the rest of the particles shot off into the walls and ceiling as a sudden wave of dizziness washed over me and made me stumble.

"Are you okay?" the orange fairy asked with worry as she flew in front of me.

"Y-yeah." I breathed. "Just felt dizzy all of a sudden." I stood up and shook my head to get rid of what was left of the dizzy spell. "But why do you think the rest of it flew into the walls?" Just then, something wet dropped from the ceiling and landed on my head since my hat had fallen off during the fight. I felt were it hit and looked up only for another drop to fall right on my face. A wiped it away and widened my eyes in shock to see a lot of very pointy icicles dangling above me. A few of them broke free and plummeted down to me.

"Move!" a muffled voice yelled as someone tackled me out of the way. The collision didn't feel all that great and the fall to the floor didn't help either. "I thought that you would be one to be a bit more careful than that." the figure said as it got off of me and sat on its knees.

"Well I did just get done fighting a werewolf in the bitter cold." I replied with a grunt as I clutched my shoulder and sat up. The blue and white clad ninja's eyes widened when she saw the cuts along my body.

"You mean you defeated the creature that caused all of this?" she asked as she pulled out a bandage from a hidden pouch. I nodded and started to get up but stopped when Sheik put her hand on my chest. "Stop, Link will be here in a few moments so rest while you can."

"How do you know that?" I asked as I pulled up my sleeve so she could wrap my shoulder.

"I helped him out of a pile of snow that he got stuck in." she said once she bandaged my cut, making me laugh a little.

"Then it's a good thing my necklace kicked in when it did." I muttered as I put my hands behind my head and laid back. "Otherwise I'd be an ice sculpture gleaming in the crystals' light."

"Speaking of your necklace, it hasn't stopped glowing ever since you broke out from the ice." Angi said as she landed beside it on my chest.

"Good, that's probably what's keeping me warm." I said while looking down at it. "But what about you Tangi? Aren't you cold?"

"Nope, magic." she said simply. "And before you ask, I was only in your hat because I didn't want to worry about getting ice on my wings." I simply shrugged at her excuse and sat up.

"What about you?" I asked looking over to the ninja.

"The cold doesn't really bother me. I've been trained to resist it so I can't really feel it." she replied.

"Your body says otherwise." I said with a grin.

"What do you mean?" the ninja asked in confused. "I'm not shivering."

"I wasn't talking about that." I chuckled. She crossed her arms over her chest and turned away with a huff making me laugh. "So how long do you think it'll take Link to get here?" At first I thought she was ignoring me because of what I said but she turned back to me after a few moments.

"At the pace he was going I'd say about ten minutes or so." Sheik said thoughtfully.

"Good because I could use a nap." I muttered as I crawled over to a wall and leaned against it. "This is just a suggestion but you can come and sit by me if you get cold." I closed my eyes and got as comfortable as I could against the rocky wall. I cracked my eye open when I heard her get up and start walking over to me. She picked up my hat along the way and sat down beside me. A small smirk made its way on my face as I felt her lean against me as I started to doze off.

* * *

There we go, a bit of a twist to cold portion of the quest. Saves a deal of writing to not include the 'dungeon' portion. Anyway how'd I do? Good? Bad? Let me know what'cha think!


	13. Go with the Flow

Okay first off let me apologize for the big delay. Not only was writer's block being a sore loser and pestering me for a while, but I have a new excus- erm, I mean obstacle that requires a good chunk of my time. Getting a job'll do that so updates will take a little longer.

Excuse and apology out of the way, thank you to those who reviewed! Makes me feel better about writing so I'll try to repay you with good chapters! Enjoy!

* * *

"Are you sure this is the way they came?" A woman in a sleeveless green and black crop top with green pants asked as she and another similarly dressed woman followed Zora's River upstream.

"Positive." the one in front replied simply.

"I still don't get why we're following them." The other said as she started to play with her red ponytail. "You saw that man's face, he looked exactly like-"

"I know who he looked like." The leading one said crossly. "And I know that Ganondorf imprisoned that traitor. We're just making sure he isn't causing more chaos."

"And you also know that it's not safe to approach him, but that's not the only reason for doing this is it?" the second one asked, knowing that there was more to their little escaped than the first one let on.

"I'll just feel better once I'm sure he's not running around." the first one let out with a sigh as she lightly brushed her fingers over a mark, which oddly resembled a horizontal wrench and lemons, tattooed on her left shoulder. "He was the first man I fully trusted and believed in." She then clenched her hand in anger as memories ran through her mind. "Everything he's done, and especially the way he practically kidnapped that child by pretending to be the poor kid's dead best friend for Ganondorf was just..."

"What he did was a shock to all of us." the second one said comfortingly as she made her way over and placed a hand on her shoulder. "That's why we do what we do; to help try to make up for the part we've played in Ganondorf's reign." a small frown spread on her face when the other just started walking down the foggy path without a response. "SAVED YOUR LIFE!" she yelled as she ran up and shoved her partner towards the river but pulled her back at the last second.

"What's wrong with you Madeen?" the other yelled as she pulled her arm out of Madeen's grasp. "You know I can't swim that well!"

"I know, that's why I saved your life." she replied with a grin getting a glare from the other. "So what are we going to do with those two when we get to them?"

"You can do whatever you want. I just want to clear my head." A sly smile spread across Madeen's face from her partner's response.

"Will do!" Madeen cried enthusiastically as she gave a mock salute before following her sighing partner deeper into the fog.

~ sc/ vc ~

A small itch on my nose and a soft, cool breeze lightly nudged me out of my sleep. This came to my disliking since my entire body, except for my right arm, felt like I had just got done working it out to its limit. I cracked my eyes open and sleepily looked around a bit to take in my surroundings.

"Night already?" I murmured as I saw small lights shining above me. The faint sound of crunching snow came from my left and sounded as if whatever it was, was sneaking closer to me. "Who's th-mph!" my eyes shot open when I felt a gloved hand cover my mouth. I whipped my head around to see Link holding a finger over his lips, signaling for me to keep quiet. Once he noticed that I recognized him, he dropped his hands.

"What's with all the sneaking?" I whispered. He pointed to my right and I followed his finger to see Sheik sleeping soundly against me. 'Well that explains why my right arm isn't sore, I can't even feel it.' I thought as I noticed that Sheik's arms were wrapped around mine with her head on my shoulder. 'Heh, so much for the cold not bothering her.' I thought with a light chuckle.

"Shh! You'll wake him!" Navi whispered as Link quietly moved to where he was in front of me. He slowly extended his hand but stopped when Sheik slightly readjusted herself. I felt a teensy bit awkward when she hugged my arm closer to her. Link didn't seem to notice my unease and continued to reach forward when she stopped moving. Before he could make contact with his target, Sheik's eyes shot open and, on reflex, knocked Link's arm away with her right and drew her left back to punch him in the face. When she drew back, her arm came out from under mine but didn't quite clear my head. Her fist connected with Link's jaw but the crook of her elbow got caught behind my neck and ended up knocking me over her lap.

"Serves you right." Angi giggled as Link rubbed where he was hit. "What were you going to do anyway?" Link patted his chest a few times in response but all that did was give us all a confused expression.

"What's that suppose to..." I trailed off when I realized what Link's target was. "That's just wrong man." I laughed lightly from my knocked over position since I had yet to move because of how sore I felt. That and the fact that she was more comfortable than the rocky walls. "You can't just go around touching girls while they're out."

"Well you're one to talk." Angi said while holding back another giggle. I was about to defend myself from her comment but decided not to since I was laying across the lap of the very person that I felt while she was unconscious. Sure she knew and all but I figured it'd be best to avoid bringing up that topic.

"Sheik's not a girl!" Navi argued in frustration while bobbing up and down. "He sounds like a man, looks like a man, and to top it all off, his chest is a flat as a board!" I felt Sheik tense from the accusation and had to hold back my laughter.

"It depends on the angle you look at her." Angi said as she landed on me. "If you look from here you can tell that she's a girl." Not thinking, I looked up and saw that the loose cloth that had the Sheikah symbol stuck out ever-so-slightly. I was about to look away from her held in chest before I was accused of staring but she just happened to glance down and meet my gaze.

'Uh oh.' I thought as I saw a hint of red under her visible eye. "Uh, first off let me say that I wasn't staring."I said while growing a little more uneasy from the situation.

"Staring at what? There's nothing there." Navi said with Link nodding in agreement while still rubbing his jaw. I suppressed another fit of laughter when Sheik tensed again and sent a hard stare their way.

"Aaanyway," I chuckled as I pushed myself up into my previous sitting position against the wall, "what took you two so long to get here?" Even though Link was nearby and letting out warmth with his magic, I could still feel a chill in the air and wanted to get out of here as soon as possible.

"Our way was really long and a bunch of monsters were swarming us." Navi said with Link nodding triumphantly. I glanced over to Sheik but her gaze was still on them.

"Oh really?" I asked with a disbelieving grin.

"They must have been some pretty nasty snow monsters." Angi giggled making Link's expression falter into a sheepish smile.

"Well what have you been doing this whole time?" Navi asked expectantly. "Snuggling up to-"

"We were sharing body heat to stay warm." Sheik interjected as she stood up. "He needed rest after his fight with the source of this curse." Link did a quick scan of the area and then gave me a questioning look.

"What? You didn't think I got all of these injuries from keese did you?" I asked with a grin but he just gave me a confused stare. I looked down and noticed that the Kokiri tunic had already mended itself, hiding all of the scratches that were on my torso.

"You mean the curse is lifted now?" Navi asked but was answered by an unexpected drop of water falling on her and almost making her hit the ground.

"It is indeed broken," Sheik said as she walked forward a bit and inspected the ice a little before tuning back to us, "But the ice must melt away before the Zora can be free of their imprisonment. With one exception, the entire Zora race must wait a little longer for their freedom. I managed to rescue the Zora Princess from under the ice, but she left for the Water Temple to find out why Lake Hylia is why it is."

"How long do you think it will take for all of this ice to melt away?" Angi asked.

"From the looks of it, I'd say a good while." I replied as I used the wall to help me stand up. "I wonder how much time they've been like this." Sheik closed her eyes and seemed thoughtful for a moment.

"Time passes, people move. Like a river's flow, it never ends." she said while opening her eyes and looking to us. It felt as if a cold claw of fear grabbed my heart when I thought of how the time flowed back in my world. At that moment, I didn't know if I was having a bad dream, which that thought was quickly thrown aside considering everything I've felt and the injuries I've received, but that only left me with wondering if seven years had passed by in my world like it did here.

"And like a river's flow, time never stops?" I asked trying to keep my voice calm. The blue clad ninja nodded her head and pulled out her harp, not noticing my worried expression. I threw on a fake half-smile to hopefully make it look like I was happy for being right on her poem again instead of making them worry from me being worried. 'Now's not the time to think about that.' I thought with an inward sigh as I slightly shook my head. 'I need to focus on us getting out of here once we learn this new song.' With that reasoning, I pushed the thought of my home's time to the back of my mind for the time being.

"A childish mind will turn to noble ambition." Sheik said as if reciting a poem she had read before. I looked over to Link since the ninja seemed to be singling him out and saw that he had a thoughtful look on his face. "Young love will become deep affection." A small grin spread across my face as I remembered how Malon and Link got along and how the red head had tackled me when she thought I was him when I first met her. "The clear water's surface reflects growth..." she plucked a few strings to get the right tune. "Now listen to the Serenade of Water to reflect upon yourself."

Sheik closed her eyes in concentration as her fingers pulled at the strings of her small harp, making a soft melody echo off of the cavern walls. Link followed shortly after on his ocarina once he picked up on the rhythm. With the way that they played together, you would think that they had practiced many times with each other before. The combination of his ocarina and her harp made the Serenade of Water have a smooth and beautiful composition that seemed to fit with the dark walls and glistening ice almost perfectly.

"Bravo, bravo." I laughed half-heartedly as I clapped when they finished. "You two sound like you've been playing together for years. Hard to believe it's only been about three times." I added with a somewhat forced smile.

"He's a fast learner." Navi said with Link nodding with a bright smile as he put his instrument away. "Hey, look over there." she pointed an unseen finger towards the pile of snow and ice that had almost fallen on me earlier. We all looked around for anything out of the ordinary but didn't see anything that stood out. Angi seemed to see where Navi was pointing and flew over to the cave-in.

"Yeah there's something buried over here." the orange fairy said as she fluttered above what seemed to be a wooden lid almost completely covered with snow. Since I was the closest, I made my way around the snow pile after I picked up my still discarded sword and sheathing it before walking to were Angi was hovering. "It must have fallen with the ice because I don't remember seeing it when we first walked in here." she said as I brushed away the cold powder on the top to reveal a large wooden chest. I put my hands at where the lock was and lifted but it didn't budge, mostly from the ice that had frozen over the hinges but also because I still felt drained from fighting the wolfos-like guardian.

"Hey Link, come and gimme a hand over here." I called with a grunt as I tried to open the chest again. He nodded and walked over to my side to get a good grip. "On three. One... Two... Three!" We both heaved and the lid flung open to where it almost tipped the whole chest over. Since there was so little resistance, both of us stumbled back a little but I ended up tripping and falling into a pile of snow. Link laughed a little and gave me the 'you needed help with that?' look as he held his hand out to me. "What? I loosened it." I said with a light grin as I grabbed his hand and was pulled up.

"You should be more careful Josh." Sheik said with Link nodding in agreement before he went over to the chest and started looking through it. "You mustn't do too much while you are recovering or else you risk making yourself worse off." I smirked a little at her comment since it sounded pretty close to what Zefrelda and I said to each other in Kakariko.

"I'll be fine." I chuckled a little as Link somewhat staggered over to us with a pair of boots with iron weights attached to the bottom of them. "If worse comes to worse, I'm pretty sure Link'll bail me out of it." I patted his shoulder making him nod with a wide grin. She looked over us with an observant gaze for a few moments before backing up a few steps and stopping.

"Link, Josh... I'll see you two again." she reached into a hidden pouch and pulled out a small reddish-brown nut. I looked away and shut my eyes as the Deku nut went off but was still partially blinded. "And a word of warning," Sheik began as a light breeze started up in the cavern, "even though the curse is broken, there are still things you need to look out for." the last part faded with the feeling of the wind but was replaced by a VERY uncomfortable and sudden weight on my foot. Though my vision was still blurry, I could easily make out one of the boots Link was carrying had dropped onto my foot.

"SON OF A-"

~ sc ~

"I cannot believe you said those things AGAIN!" Navi complained just as we went to the ledge of the ice cavern. The fog of Zora's fountain was already almost completely gone away. We could see the stone alter but what was left of the fog had sunk down low to were our vision of the ice was hindered a little.

"I'm tired, I'm hurt, and I'm cold. So excuse me for being a little agitated." I snapped causing all of them to stop in surprise. I stopped as well to take in a breath and let it out. "Sorry Navi, I've got a bit on my mind now." I was about to hop down onto the partially hidden ice but Link stopped me by putting his hand on my shoulder.

"Wait." he rasped once I gave him a questioning look. I nodded and sat down on the edge of the cavern as he carefully climbed down into the fog. He slowly made his way across, pausing every now and then when the iced over water creaked under his weight since it had weakened a bit ever since I broke the curse. I heard the ice crack a few times but the distance and partial fog made it impossible for me to tell where or how big the cracks were. A few minutes passed and Link finally made it to the alter. He turned around and called for me to follow him showing that it was okay to cross.

I climbed down and carefully set my feet on the frozen water of Zora's fountain and was happy that I didn't hear any ice creaking under my weight. Figuring it to be safe, I carefully moved forward while avoiding Link's path so as not to go over the ice he cracked and risk falling into the frigid water.

When I was about a quarter of the way across, the ice started to creak which made me stop moving in hopes of making it stop. The creaking died down and I again carefully started to go across the ice. After a few more steps I stopped when I heard the ice cracking near me. I looked around but it was useless since everything below my shins were shrouded in the thin white cloud and the cracks were too far away to see. The cracking stopped soon afterwards but a sudden jolt below me made me stumble a bit.

"What the?" I asked but another, slightly stronger jolt was followed by the sound of more creaking.

"Something's under us." Angi stated fearfully. No sooner had she said that, an even stronger jolt caused the ice below me to crack and send me off balance. After getting my footing back, I threw caution to the wind and ran as fast as the slick ice would let me towards the alter Link was standing on. I stumbled a few times from whatever was below me but was making pretty good ground. When I was about halfway there, an octopus-like creature broke through the ice behind me and spit a bowling ball sized rock out of its tube-like mouth that was aimed for my back. "Watch out!"

I had just enough time to look over my shoulder and see the rock connect with my back. The rock shattered on impact as my sword took the hit but that didn't stop the force from nearly knocking me on my face. I caught myself and whipped around while drawing my sword only to see that the octoroc went back under the ice. Not taking my chances to wait and get hit again, I turned back to the alter and continued towards it while sheathing my broadsword. As I ran, I could feel the vibration of ice breaking away a little further away from me. Another octoroc burst through the ice to my left and was about to spit a rock at me. My eyes widened and braced myself for something I knew wouldn't feel good as its head reared back. Before the rock could come out of its snout, an arrow soared through the air and into the side of its head.

"Thanks!" I yelled to now bow-equipped Hero of Time as I jumped over a gap that had formed between the sheets of ice that were starting to drift away from each other. Deeming it safe since the immediate threat was taken care of, I slowed my pace so I'd be less likely to misstep in the fog. My break was short-lived since a few moments later, I heard the splashing of water, a yell from Link, and the sound of something spitting from behind me. Going with my gut, I dove forward just as another bowling ball sized rock flew over me and crashed into the side of the platform of ice I was about to jump to.

Not bothering to look back, I scrambled to my feet, ran forward and jumped the now semi-large gap to my intended platform. What I didn't intend on was another octoroc poking its head out of the water and spitting a rock at me while I was in mid-jump. I twisted in the air to where the rock only glanced across my chest but I landed unsteadily and stumbled towards the edge of the platform. Knowing that I wouldn't be able to stop, I righted myself as much as I could and dove to the next chunk of ice over. Unfortunately, my foot slipped and I ended up plunging into the cold water.

"Good lord that's cold!" I exclaimed once I resurfaced. The bone-chilling water already had me shivering in hopes of warming myself up. I looked up to the platform I had tried to jump to and noticed, to my displeasure, it was just out of reach for me to climb up on. I hurriedly looked around for anything I could climb up on but the fog wasn't helping in the least.

"Over here!" Angi called a little further off. Once I spotted her light, I swam as fast as I could towards her since the cold was quickly sapping my body heat. She was floating over a platform that was just low enough for me to climb up on. "Look out!" she yelled as I started to pull myself up. I looked over my shoulder and saw that another octoroc emerged out of the water behind me and spit a rock at me. My sword took most of the hit but some of my breath was knocked out of me from the force. I grunted from the pain that went through my left shoulder as I pulled myself up and rolled clear of the ledge. The next thing that caught my attention was the sound of multiple splashes. "Uh... Josh?" Angi asked uneasily.

"There's no way my luck is that bad." I muttered, not wanting to see what it was but already half-expected what was around us. I stood up and saw that a group of octorocs had surrounded the platform of ice I was on and were all glaring up at me. I watched them carefully with a bit of confusion as they circled me while ignoring the ones that were being shot at by Link. The rest that Link couldn't quite hit suddenly stopped and reared their heads back. Before they could do anything else, a bright flash went off in front of me followed by a strong gust of wind and the feeling of the whole world spinning around me. Once the feeling subsided, I plopped down onto what felt like a stone floor with water about ankle-high.

"Are you alright?" a muffled voice asked worriedly as I felt a hand placed gently on my good shoulder. I looked to my side to a blurred blue and white figure as I shivered from the breeze that blew past me.

"Sheik?" I asked as I blinked my vision back. Once I was sure it was her, I wrapped my arms around her, pulled her close, and held her tight in hopes of getting some warmth. She let out a surprised yelp and pulled away once my cold, wet body made contact with hers. "S-sorry." I chuckled. "The water's r-really cold." After a few moments of watching her try to squeeze some of water that made her clothes seem to cling to her more, I noticed a part of her seemed to stand out a little more than usual.

"Something wrong?" she asked with a slight shiver in her voice, breaking me from my observations.

"O-other than falling into a frozen lake and freezing, n-no." I said a little nervously, hoping that she didn't catch me staring for those brief seconds. She narrowed her eyes thoughtfully and I let out a sigh figuring that she caught me. "That body suit doesn't exactly hide your figure when you're c-cold and wet, and me being..." I trailed off when she crossed her arms and turned away. 'Greeeeeat, I just told on myself.' "Eh, sorry. But you did ask." I pointed out with a sheepish smile.

"That's not what I meant." she said as she looked over her shoulder at me. I couldn't help but grin a bit when I saw some red poking out over her muffler. "Something is troubling you." My grin faltered a bit as the thought of how my world's time flow came back to the front of my mind.

"What makes you say that?" I asked as I got up with a grunt.

"Your eyes betray your face." she stated as she turned back towards me. I raised an eyebrow skeptically as she walked closer. "You're worried about something." she narrowed her eyes as if inspecting me. Her eyes suddenly grew wide and she let out a small gasp. "The darkness." she said with worry. "It's stronger than before." I sub-consciously flexed my hand at the mention of the mark on my hand. I pulled my right leather gauntlet off so I could see the mark and noticed that it was a little darker than when I first noticed it in Kakariko Village.

'My actions and kindness have given me a burden that will grow to a dangerous level if I'm not careful.' I thought with a frown as I recalled the words of the mysterious voice in my dream. 'In my dream, this mark showed up and went out of control. Then the triforce appeared around it and subdued it.' I took off my necklace and held it to where I could see it better. It felt really warm and an almost prickly sensation spread through my right hand as it rest there. 'Guess I'll have to be careful to hold on to you.'

"Josh?" Sheik asked breaking me out of my thoughts. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." I replied as I put the necklace back around my neck. "Other than having a strange mark on my hand and being in a tunnel that smells like fish I'm fine." I said with a grin which soon changed to a confused look when I thought about what I said. "Wait a minute..." I looked over myself and then at Sheik. "I'm not cold and we're not wet." She simply smiled under her muffler and held up one of her hands which had a red glow to it. "Magic?" I asked getting a nod from her. "Why didn't you use it back in the cavern?"

"Yeah Sheik. Why didn't you?" an orange fairy asked as she, a blue fairy, and a red clad Hylian came towards us. "It was cold in there."

"What are you complaining about Tangi?" I asked as I slipped my hand back into my gauntlet. " I thought you were using your own magic to stay warm."

"Enough to keep myself from shivering, but why are you two way over here? I was starting to get a little worried." she asked as she fluttered over to me. I simply shrugged and looked at Sheik for an answer since I was wondering the same thing. "Wouldn't it have been better to go by Link?"

"My magic has a tendency to attract... unwanted attention." She replied after what seemed like a moment of thought. " I wanted to make sure I was far enough away so they wouldn't find us." As if on cue, a small group of keese flew into cave from the same way Link and the fairies had come from.

"Not far enough! Watch out!." Navi called as the screeching bats aimed for us. We all jumped back as the bats swooped down in hopes of getting a quick bite. My landing was a bit sloppy from the sudden movement on top of my fatigue but I righted myself and drew the Kokiri sword since it would take less energy to use.

"Stay back Josh, we'll take care of them." Sheik called as she killed a few of the creatures with her needles. Link shouted out in agreement as he narrowly missed one of the keese with an arrow.

"There's nowhere to stay back." I called back as I slashed one that came within my range. "They're everywhere."

"Then keep moving and don't get hit." Navi yelled over the dying cries of a few more keese. Not really needing her advice, I ducked and jumped away from the attacking bats as Link and Sheik continued to thin out the amount of enemies. Sheik was doing well and taking down most of them with relative ease and accuracy. Link on the other hand, had to re-use a lot of the arrows he shot since he was missing quite a bit. As I was keeping myself from being an oversized chew-toy, I heard an arrow wiz by my ear and dove to the side out of reflex.

"Whoa, watch it Link!" I yelled at the red clad Hylian. "You nearly took my ear off with that one!" He let out a noise in what I assumed was an apology as he ran passed me to retrieve it. 'Sheesh I thought he was suppose to be some great marksman.' I thought as I shook my head in annoyance. 'Then again, he did just get the bow a few days ago so I guess it makes since that he'd be a bad shot.' I clenched my teeth in pain as a sudden jolt went through my arm as one of the few remaining keese rammed into my left shoulder. I clutched my shoulder in hopes of toning down the throbbing and glared at the bat that strangely hovered in front of me for a few seconds.

I took the opportunity to roughly bat the bat over to the wall with the back of my hand. The keese let out a loud cry as it slammed into the rocky surface and dropped to the floor before burning up in a small blue flame. I looked around to see how many where left but relaxed and sheathed my sword when I saw Sheik finish off the last of the keese that Link had just missed again.

"Well that wasn't too bad." Angi said cheerily but flew over to me once she saw me holding my shoulder. "What happened? Are you alright?

"One of them hit me while I was thinking. No biggy." I replied with a shrug while trying to ignore the lingering pain.

"Let me see it." Sheik said as she walked over to me. I let out a small sigh and pulled my sleeve up to reveal that part of the bandage that she put on me earlier had a dark red tinge to it. "This won't completely heal it but it will be better off." she gently placed her warm glowing hand on my left shoulder. I winced from the contact but the pain soon subsided as her hand began to glow a faint pink.

"Healing too?" I asked in surprise since I figured only fairies had that kind of magic. Sheik didn't respond since she was too busy concentrating on my shoulder. A few moments passed and her brow creased in what looked like exertion. "Easy Sheik." I said as I grabbed her wrist to break her concentration. She stumbled a little but I made sure to hold her steady. "Don't push yourself."

"I could say the same to you." she muttered as she shook the weariness of healing me off. I simply chuckled and let go once I was sure she was steady. "But you two should leave now. There's no telling how long you have until something else shows up."

"What? Like rats?" I asked with a grin. "I think we could take 'em." A small shudder ran through her and I went to catch her if need be but she waved me off. She backed up a few paces and slammed the Deku nut that she pulled out of a hidden pouch against the ground, temporarily blinding us so she could leave.

"I'll see you two again... be careful on your way back." The last part seemed to be carried in the wind as a sudden breeze blew past us. When our vision came back, the only trace that she was there was that my hat was laying on a rock near the spot she was standing. I grabbed the dry cloth and tucked it in my belt since I didn't really need to hide my ears at the moment.

"Well I guess we'd better go." I said as I started walking towards Zora's Domain once my vision came back. "I'd rather not fight anything else for a bit if I don't have to. We've still got to free King Zora anyway." Link nodded and quickly followed.

"Um, Josh?" Navi asked as we entered the throne room. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what's on your mind?" I asked as I turned to her though was mildly surprised from the slight caution in her voice.

"How long have you known Sheik?"

"Well we first met at the Forest Temple so... a few days." I said after a moment of thought. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh no reason." she said as she sat on Link's shoulder. "Just curious." I raised an eyebrow at the way she said that but shrugged it off and walked up to the large fish-person that was incased in red ice. I pulled the bottle out of my pocket that contained a bit of blue fire and wiped some frost off of the glass.

"Catch Link." I called as I tossed the blue glowing bottle to him. He caught it but gave me a questioning look as I started to walk towards the exit of the throne room. "Use that to free King Zora. I'm gonna go on ahead to Kakariko Village."

"How come? I'm sure he'd like to thank you." Navi called to me as I reached the frozen warriors.

"Because he'll probably mistake me for the guy who caused this." I replied with a shrug. "Ya know, the whole short ears thing?" I stopped for a second when I thought that I saw the eyes of one of the Zora warriors move. Blaming fatigue, I shook my head and continued towards the exit to Zora's Domain, unaware that the gazes of all of the warriors were infact following me as far as the bend.

~ sc/ vc ~

"Can we go yet? It's going to get dark soon." A green garbed woman asked as she lay back and watched the orange tinted clouds ride the winds in the sky while her partner looked over the cliff they were both perched on near a roaring waterfall. "I'm starting to doubt that those two even came this way. We've been here for hours and not even a bird has gone by."

"No Madeen, not yet." The other figure said. "And someone is here. If you haven't noticed, the fog has almost disappeared." Madeen rolled over and made the silent 'oh' face once she looked down and saw that only a thin layer of fog obscured their vantage point. "Wait..." a very faint humming was barely audible over the roaring falls. "Did you hear that?"

"Yeah." Madeen whispered as she scanned the area. "Look, behind the waterfall." she pointed at an orange light that was shining behind the water. "Kinda small for the sun huh?"

"Shh, listen." The voice of a young man was barely audible but his words were impossible to make out. A higher pitched voice picked up after the other one stopped followed by the small orange light disappearing.

"Aw the little sun disappeared." Madeen said with a smile but her partner paid her no mind. A few moments later they were startled by a young man in a green tunic diving through the falling water and landing roughly on the stone slab that marked the Royal Family entrance to Zora's Domain. "Hey isn't that..."

"Yes, that's him."

~ vc ~

"Ooow." I groaned as I picked myself up off of the stone archway. "Next time mark where you think I'm going to land Tangi." I said as I held my hat and lightly shook it so my guardian fairy would come out.

"And how do you expect little ol' me to fly though a waterfall like that?" she asked playfully as she shook off what little water got on her through the cloth.

"I don't know, make some kind of force field for yourself or something?" I asked with a shrug as I wrung the water out of my hat but stopped when I noticed a bulge at the tip.

"A fairy?" A voice whispered from above us. I was too occupied with trying to dig whatever it was out of my hat to notice, but Angi's ears managed to pick it up.

"A Deku nut?" I asked out loud as I pulled the reddish-brown object out of my hat and rolled it in my hand. "When did that get there?"

"Josh." Angi stated as she fluttered closer to my ear. "I think someone's on that cliff up there." No sooner had I looked up, two woman dropped down on either side of the archway I was on. One in front with an arrow aimed at me and the other behind me with a scimitar. I went to draw my broadsword but the one with the scimitar's voice stopped me.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you!" she shouted over the roaring water with a hint of amusement. I slowly let go and stood upright to where I could quickly look from one to the other.

'Damn, this isn't good.' I thought as I carefully eyed the one with the bow. 'I don't think she'll let go of that arrow with the other right behind me, so it'd probably be best to go after her first. Then again, I'm not in the best shape to do anything right now.'

"What are you doing here?" The one with the bow shouted over the roar of the falls.

'Man, how do I get out of this one?' I clenched my hand in frustration but stopped when I realized that I still had the Deku nut in my hand. 'Oh, duh.'

"I said what are you doing here?" she yelled again. I rolled the nut around in my clenched hand, wondering how much force it took to set off the flash. "Answer me!" Not really caring about her demands, I readied myself to slam the nut down until I heard something wiz by my head and a sharp pain spread through my left ear.

"Ow!" I yelled as I grabbed it. "What the hell woman!"

"That was just a warning shot." she replied calmly as she pulled out another arrow from somewhere behind her back. Taking my chance before she could notch it, I covered my eyes and slammed the Deku nut on the ground to set it off. Both of the Gerudo let out a surprised yelp and I dove into the river while they were temporarily blinded. The chilled water wasn't exactly welcoming, especially for my scratches, but I rode the current over to the river bank so I could hide in a crevice in the wall until they left. Their frustrated voices were drowned out as they stumbled around blindly. The one with the bow ended up slipping off of the archway and plunging into the river's current. 'Good riddance.' I thought as I watched her submerged figure get carried away.

"HELP!" she yelled once her head burst through the water making my eyes go wide with surprise, "I can't swim!"

"You've gotta be kidding me." I muttered as the current carried the flailing Gerudo down river. "Stupid guilty conscious." I growled in frustration as I ran and dove into the river to swim after her.

~ sc ~

"I hope you know it's not easy to work with deadweight, especially when swimming." I panted as I dragged the Gerudo's limp body off of a sandbar and onto the riverbank. "Look at me wasting my breath, you're not even conscious." I muttered but froze soon after and gently rolled her onto her back. I placed my first two fingers against the side of her neck while Angi flew to her mouth.

"Too late, she's stopped breathing." the orange fairy said sadly but that didn't stop me from kneeling beside the unconscious Gerudo and start pressing the center of her chest in with the heel of my hands. "Josh show some respect!" she let out in shock. "First Sheik and now her?" I paused just long enough to send the orange fairy a half-glare before placing my lips against the redhead's and gave her two short breaths. "I can't believe you're doing this. I mean kissing the dead of all things?" I paused again to stare at her a second before shaking my head and continued to do CPR. "I'm sure you could get one from Zefrelda if you just asked, or even Malon for that matter." I almost fell forward from her comment as heat rushed to my face.

"Tangi shut up, I'm trying to concentrate."

"Concentrate on what? You're-" Angi was interrupted by a fit of coughing as water started to spurt out of the Gerudo's mouth. I gently turned the tan woman over so the water could run out rather than back into her. After all of the water came out, she started breathing normally which resulted in my sighing in relief and Angi gasping in surprise. "You... You brought her back to life?"

"Not exactly." I said as I got up with a grunt. "But we'd better go before she regains consciousness."

"You mean we should just leave her like this?" Angi asked as I started to walk away. I looked over my shoulder at the unconscious figure and clenched my fist in frustration.

"No." I let out with an agitated sigh. I sat down by a patch of bushes so I could keep an eye on her but also to have a place to hide if need be. Since the situation calmed down a bit, I was reminded about my ear when a dull stinging resurfaced. I winced when I gingerly touched my newest cut and sighed when I felt a small bit of blood coming out of it. "Yet another cut to add to my collection." I muttered sarcastically as I pressed my hat against it.

"Well you are a warrior are you not?" the second Gerudo from earlier asked as she poked her head out beside mine from the bush I was sitting in front of. I practically jumped to my feet and backed away as I grabbed the hilt of my broadsword. "My you're a bit more jumpy than I thought you'd be." she said through her light laughter as she completely came out of the bush. "But there's no need for you to draw your weapon. I'm not here to fight."

"Really? Then why did you two attack me when I came from the waterfall." I asked, not believing her.

"We didn't attack you." she said, seemingly surprised at the accusation. "At least I didn't anyway." I narrowed my eyes and gripped my sword a little tighter in annoyance. "Now, now. You wouldn't last long against me in that condition." I tensed at her comment but let out a defeated sigh and released my sword.

"So what do you want with me?" I asked as I crossed my arms.

"Oh nothing much." she said as she casually put her arms behind her back. "Just to see who you were."

"See who I was?" I asked disbelievingly. "You two sure looked like you knew who I was back at the ranch."

"We thought we knew who you were, but the way you helped that Hylian and how you kept her head above the water..." she trailed off and looked away somewhat solemnly, "he would never have done such a thing." I was somewhat taken aback from the sudden disappearance of her carefree tone and couldn't think of anything else to say at the moment. "But that's a story for someone else to tell on a later date." she said with her perkiness returning as she walked over to her partner. "Speaking of which, where is that pointy-eared friend of yours? Unharmed I hope."

"He's fine. He's with-"

"Tangi." I said suddenly to cut her off. I didn't feel like putting Link at possible risk with giving up where he was. "The last time you were with him, you had his face in the ground. What would you be worried about him for?"

"Relax, relax." she laughed lightly. "He's a cute young man after all. It's only natural for me to be curious about him."

"Is it natural for you to shove cute young men's faces in the ground?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not shoving yours in the ground am I?" she asked sweetly catching me off guard. "But anyway, thanks for keeping her above the water for me."

"You mean you knew she was drowning?" I asked in shock. "And you didn't try to help her?"

"I was about to but you got to her before I could do anything, so I followed you and made sure nothing messed with you while you went with the current."

"Well that explains the lack of octorocs." I muttered thoughtfully. "But... wait. How did you manage to keep up with us if you were blinded by the flash?"

"Word of advice," the Gerudo let out with a small grunt as she hoisted her partner onto her shoulders, "if you're planning on using a Deku nut, don't fumble it around in your hand so your opponent can see it." I simply blinked at what she pointed out. I sighed when I realized she had plenty of time to prepare for the flash since I did in fact give her enough time to figure out that I had a Deku nut in my hand at the waterfall. "And take this too." she said as she tossed a small vial to me. "Think of it as a small thank you for pulling her out for me."

"What is it?" I asked as I held it up so I could see the red liquid inside.

"It's some of that potion the old lady in Kakariko Village makes. It's not much but it'll fix you up enough to where you can make it there for more." She cast her gaze up at the now dark orange sky. "And judging by the light, I'd suggest you get moving before the Stalchild come out." While she stared at the sky for a few moments, I took the chance to get a good look at my would-be assailants.

'Well they certainly look more defined than they did in the game. Course that's a given considering the circumstances.' I thought as I looked over their features. 'There nose doesn't stand out as much as Ganondorf's does. Must be a male Gerudo thing.' I shrugged and was about to look away before I was blamed for anything, but a mark on the right shoulder of the one I saved caught my attention. 'That's the same mark that's on my hand.'

"Oh before I forget, my names Madeen." she said cheerfully as she winked at me. "I'll see you and your Hylian friend some other time." Before I could say anything, Madeen swiftly pulled out a Deku nut and slammed it on the ground. I grunted in surprise from the sudden flash and quickly covered my eyes. I blinked my vision back but there was no trace of them.

"So much for answers." I muttered as I uncorked the vial.

"Your actually going to drink that?" Angi asked in surprise. "What if she put something, I don't know, strange in it?"

"The potion's strange enough as is." I chuckled as I prepared to down it in one go. "But I'm gonna need this if I want to make it to Kakariko Village in time." The mention of time brought back my fearful thoughts. I shook my head to clear them but that only succeeded in making me a little dizzy.

"Are you alright?" Angi asked in worry as I put my hand to my head.

"More or less." I said as I looked to her with a tired smile. "Just exhausted."

"Just exhausted?" Angi echoed as I downed the small dose of red potion. "You look as if you're ready to collapse." she said as I gagged from the bitter taste.

"Almost feels that way too." I replied as I pocketed the small vial and started following the river to Hyrule Field. "But let's go before the Stalchild come out."

"Wait." Angi called as she flew after me. "Why don't we just wait for Link?"

"Because even with him helping me, I still wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight like this." I replied. "Plus there's no telling how long it takes for the red ice to melt." We rounded a few more bends to see a woman with long red hair washing her horse in the calm shallow portion of the river. Taking it to be another Gerudo, I ducked down and pressed myself against a nearby tree with bushes around it. "Just how many came after me?" I muttered to myself. The woman had apparently heard me since she was now looking around as if she heard something. 'Wait that's...'

"Who's there?" she called as she scanned the area. Her auburn horse must have heard me as well since it was coming right towards me. "Is someone over there Epona?" the woman asked somewhat nervously as she hesitantly followed her, picking up a relatively big stick along the way. I cupped my hands around Angi to hide her glow while a grin grew on my face as the two approached. "Come on out. This isn't funny."

"Sure it is!" I yelled as I thrust my head out of the bushes. Epona reared back in surprise and the woman screamed as she brought the stick back. "Wait Malon-!" I was cut off by the stick hitting me in the head and knocking me to the ground.

"You deserved that." Angi giggled as she hovered above me. "But you didn't have to hit him that hard Malon."

"I-I'm sorry," she let out in embarrassment, "he scared me."

"Ah, don't worry. He'll get over it." the orange fairy said with an unseen shrug. "But we'd better go before it gets too late."

"You're right, the Stalchild will be out soon." Malon said as she put the saddle back on Epona. "Come on Josh, let's go to Kakariko Village so we can get you fixed up." My lack of response, or movement for that matter, made Malon grow a little worried. "Josh?" she asked as she walked over to me and lightly poked me with her stick. "Uh oh."

"Try explaining this one." the orange orb giggled as the red head signaled for Epona to kneel down. Malon simply sighed as she lifted me enough to were she could lay me across the back part of the saddle.

"It wasn't entirely my fault," she said as she climbed onto Epona once the horse stood back up. "He did jump out at me."

"Either way, let's hurry and get him there. It'll be faster and safer this way." Angi said as Malon lightly kicked Epona's sides to get the horse moving.

~ vc ~

"Huh, that's a strange name." a tan woman muttered thoughtfully from her hiding spot in a bush. "He must be a foreigner or something. I've never heard it before." A small rustling behind her caught her attention as her partner started to wake up. "It's about time you 'woke up'." She added with a smile.

"What do you mean?" her partner asked groggily. "What happened?"

"You mean you weren't playing dead?" Madeen asked in surprise but a grin soon showed up. "And here I was thinking that you were doing that so he would kiss you more."

"What!" her partner practically screamed as she abruptly sat up, her face turning red with anger and embarrassment. "Where is he? I'll-"

"Now hold on." Madeen said as she put her hand on her partner's shoulder to calm her down. "If it weren't for him, we'd both be in worse shape."

"What are you talking about? It's not like he saved us or anything."

"He saved you." Madeen said, getting a skeptical look from her partner. "When you called for help, he jumped in after you and kept you above the water."

"So you're saying that the splash I heard was him?" she asked, not believing her. "If that's true, then where the heck were you?"

"Taking care of the octorocs while you two drifted downstream." Madeen simply said with a shrug as she laid back with a thoughtful expression. "He's an interesting guy, that Josh. Too bad I didn't get to see his Hylian friend this time though."

"Josh? What kind of name is that?"

"A foreigner's name I would guess but you can ask him that later. That ranch girl is taking him to Kakariko."

"Well then let's go." her partner said as she started to get up, but was stopped by Madeen grabbing her wrist.

"Let's let him rest for a little bit. He looked like he was in a fight for his life." Madeen said as she laid back down and got comfortable.

"He probably betrayed that friend of his like he did us." her partner muttered as she too got comfortable on the grass.

"There's just no convincing you is there?" Madeen asked with a sigh. "Oh well, you'll see for yourself when we pay him a visit in the morning."

* * *

I hope this one turned out alright. It felt a bit rough at parts but hey, I managed to make it work right?

Leave a review and hopefully I'll have another one up sooner than this one!


	14. Passed the Point of No Return

AAAAAGH! I am so freakin' sorry that it's taken this long! I promised myself from the very beginning that it wouldn't take me a year to update. Granted it hasn't officially been one but it's been dagg'um close enough!

Truthfully this one was really tricky. So many different outcomes could've happened from these encounters but I think I got it down pretty smoothly. Hope ya like it!

* * *

"_Where are you?" a shadowy figure asked no one in particular as he stared into the sky while leaning against a porch railing. The sound of metal hinges softly screeching and creaky floorboards caught his attention as another figure walked out of the small building behind him."Anything?" he asked almost desperately._

"_I'm sorry sir. We've found nothing." the other said regrettably. "We've searched the whole area three times and could only find a campsite raided by animals." The first figure let out a frustrated growl as he slammed his fist against a post. "I'm afraid it's time we call off the search. There's no other trace of him so..."_

"_I know!" the first one blurted out and then let out a defeated sigh. "Just... do what you have to do."_

"_I'm sorry for your loss." the second one said sympathetically as he put a hand on the other's shoulder. "We're all gonna miss him." he muttered before moving back into the building._

"_I'm sorry bud," the first figure practically whispered as he pulled a picture out of his back pocket, "we tried." A purple streak of lightning went off in the dark sky followed by the distant rumble of thunder which seemed to briefly make everything blur. The figure shook his head before putting the picture away and leaving, not noticing that the picture fell out and floated to the ground. The picture revealed a young man with short brown hair and brown eyes having a large grin plastered on his blurry face._

~ sc ~

My eyes slowly opened as I awoke with a light groan as the low rumble of thunder went off in the distance."Aaaagh man," I groaned as I sat up, "what happened last night? Feels like I got beat with a tree." I carefully rolled my limps around to relax my joints but grabbed my head when a dull pain started pulsing. "Oh wait, I kinda did. Sheesh Malon, I know I scared the begeebez out of you but you didn't need to hit me that hard." I scanned the area I was in but other than the few rays of moonlight filtering through the roof and a dim orange glow on the other side, the room was practically pitch black. "Hey Tangi, where are we?" I called to the orange glow. Not getting an answer, I decided to get up and walk over to it. On my way to it, I tripped over a creaky floorboard and plopped onto the cool floor.

"Ffffffffreak that hurt." I forced out through clenched teeth as I picked myself up off of the dusty wooden floor and grasped my shoulder. I brushed myself off but noticed a lot of cloth was missing from my body. All I had on was my necklace, the bandages around my shoulder and lower torso, and my boxers. "Oh great, please be somewhere close." I muttered, hoping my clothes were nearby as I turned the dial on the lantern to brighten the room. I let out a sigh of relief when I spotted my apparel on a chair next to the desk. I scanned over the room again since I could actually see it now and saw what one would expect in a run-down shack. A splintered wardrobe, rays of moonlight shining through holes in the roof, the shaggy cot I had been laying on, floorboards sticking up with some missing, and a slightly jagged square in the wall from what I assumed was once a window.

"Heh, nice place Malon. Question is where the heck is it?" I turned to the note that was beside the lantern and a bottle of red potion. I looked over the paper only to set it aside a few seconds later. "Figures." As far as I could tell, a bunch of baby cuccos jumped all over the paper with ink on their feet. As I was putting my pants on, the sound of creaking wood caught my attention so I turned around only to see that the room was empty. Normally I would just shrug it off but I didn't know where I was or what was around so I was on edge. I turned back to the note and made it look like I was reading so whoever, or whatever, was watching me would think I didn't notice. This time I heard a light thump and whipped around to see the wardrobe shake slightly.

I narrowed my eyes and carefully made my way over to it, avoiding the creaky boards as much as possible. I swung the doors open only to yelp in surprise as a body tumbled out and knocked me to the ground. At the same time, the door that lead outside opened up with a rusty screech revealing a man clad in leather armor and holding a spear.

"Hey Josh, sounds like you're awa-" he stopped in his tracks when he saw that I was sprawled on the floor. Or rather the fact that i was half-naked with my face scrunched up and groaning with a red-haired woman laying on top of me. "I-I-I am soooo sorry. I d-didn't realize that you...uh..." he stammered as he backed up and shut the door. "I-I'll just come back later." he called as he ran off.

"Ooooooow... The heck just happened?" I groaned while gripping my head due to it coming in contact with both the floor and whoever fell out on me. I rolled her off of me and caught a glimpse of her face in the process. "Oh crap!" I let out once I recognized her as one of the Gerudo that jumped me at Zora's river and quickly scooted away. I relaxed a bit when I noticed she wasn't moving and got closer to get a better look. Through the dim light, I noticed a red mark on her forehead from when she hit the floor.

"Hold it right there." a voice said from behind me. I froze when I recognized the voice and looked over my shoulder at the other Gerudo that jumped me. "Are you alright over there Madeen?" she asked as she notched an arrow on her bow. When she didn't get an answer, she craned her neck a tad so she could see around me and saw her unmoving partner laying in front of me. "What did you do to her?" she growled with a harsh glare.

"Nothing, she hit her head when she fell on me." I said nervously as I stood and turned to her. Her glare softened for a split second as if she saw someone she recognized. It soon came back harsher as she started to pull the arrow back on her bow. Thinking quickly, I grabbed the bottle of red potion and threw it at her. She easily dodged as it sailed by her and crashed against the wall. I used that moment to charge forward and grab the upper limb of the bow so I could twist it out of her hand. She retreated a few steps once I disarmed her but I lunged forward and pinned her to the wall. "What did you do with my friends?" I asked sternly with my own glare.

"Knowing you, they were probably left to fend for themselves when you cut and run." she growled as she tried to struggle out of my grip. She freed her left hand and swung at me but I managed to pull my head back in time and catch it. I forced her to turn around and shoved her against the wall again with my right forearm across her upper back. I was about to grab her shoulder and toss her to the floor but three things happened once my right hand made contact with the symbol on her left shoulder. One, the symbol on my hand started to glow a faint dark purple; two, my hand started going numb; and three, the red haired woman seemed to relax and go in some sort of daze.

'What the-' my thoughts were roughly interrupted as a sharp pain ran through my right side.

"Get your hands off of me!" she yelled as she elbowed me were the werewolf in the Ice Cavern got me. I clenched my teeth in pain and grabbed where she hit. She took the chance to grab the Kokiri sword off of a nearby table and slash at me, forcing me to jump back so I'd be out of range.

"What do you mean by 'knowing me'?" I questioned as I kept my distance and watched her carefully. "I haven't left anyone to fend for themselves."

"Then where's that Hylian 'friend' of yours with the blue fairy?"

"I don't know, probably in Kakariko village by now... hopefully at least." I muttered the last part to myself.

"Hopefully?" she asked snidely. "Funny how you abandoned him and hope that he's alright."

"Hey, I didn't abandon him." I said defensively. "I left so-"

"I don't care what you say!" she yelled as she slashed at me again. I moved back to avoid the blade but tripped over Madeen's body. The tip of the short sword barely missed me but I felt a slight tug on my neck as I fell. "You've caused far too much pain already."

"Wait a minute!" I said uneasily as I scooted back. "I'm not the one that did- Agh!" a sudden wave of pain shot through my head and eyes. "Of all times to get a freakin' migraine." I growled, clutching my head as the red-haired woman moved to where she was practically standing over me with the tip pointed at my chest.

"Any last words?" she asked coldly as she pulled the blade back. I looked up at her fearfully, seeing that she was really about to kill me. "It... really is you." she said, suddenly being hesitant. Realizing I had a chance, I quickly swept her legs out from under her, unintentionally making her head hit the table with the lantern on her way down. With her on the floor, I sprang to my feet and kicked the sword out of her hands. I readied myself for her to get back up but after a few moments, realized that she was unconscious.

"That was way too close." I muttered with a sigh of relief, knowing that she'd be out for a little while. However, I didn't want to take the risk of either of them waking up while I was still around so I quickly donned my equipment and clothes. I paused as I put on my right gauntlet and looked at the symbol on my right hand, then looked at the woman with the same symbol on her shoulder. "Just what was that back there?" I wondered aloud as I picked up my broadsword and propped it on my right shoulder, not wanting to fiddle with the straps. I shook my head and pushed the thoughts aside. The first thing I needed to do was figure out where I was. I picked up the lantern and headed towards the door, unaware of the small golden object on the floor at the other side of the room. A bright streak of lightning lit up the sky followed by a louder rumble of thunder that roared overhead. My right hand twitched the same time another pulse of pain ran through my head, nearly making me stumble and making my vision slightly blur. "Ugh, hope this goes away soon."

~ sc, vc ~

A young blonde woman dressed in a short sleeveless blue open shirt knotted together in the front over a simple purple top, a white skirt with a slit stretching from just passed her knee to the middle of her thigh, red sash loosely tied over her waist, and leather strapped sandals was bobbing and weaving away from the attacks of an older, white-haired woman. The younger of the two had scuff marks on her from when she was knocked down but was doing well in dodging until a rumble of thunder went off.

"You've got to get over you're fear Zefrelda!" the older one called as the blonde flinched. She unleashed a somewhat hard kick into the blonde's gut making her stumble back a little and fall to the ground. "I know you've had bad experiences with storms, but you've got to get over them if you plan on staying alive." she said as she offered her hand. "You never know when you'll be attacked so you need to be ready for anything."

"I know, I'm sorry." Zefrelda replied as she accepted the hand and got up. "It's just that whenever there was a big storm something bad happened."

"Yes but this isn't a big storm. It's more like-" a bright streak of lightning lit up the sky followed by a louder rumble of thunder that roared overhead, making both women flinch since the previous ones were more distant. The older one walked to the edge of the cliff they were both on and looked down towards Kakariko Village.

"Is something wrong Impa?" Zefrelda asked as she too looked over the edge. Their red gazes scanned over the village but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. "You don't think it's..." she trailed off as concern crept into her eyes.

"I doubt it, that problem was sealed inside the Royal Family Tomb when the gravestone was fixed." she replied. "It may just be my imagination. Let's head back and get some rest, it is quite late and the sun will be rising in a few hours." Zefrelda nodded and followed Impa down Death Mountain Trail to the back entrance of the village. Just as they entered the village, a bolt of lightning shot down from the sky and struck the ground somewhere in the graveyard.

"Head on inside, I'm going to make sure no one was hurt." Impa instructed as she started towards Kakariko graveyard. On her way through the village, she passed a guard that seemed flustered and was muttering to himself.

"And to think that he was practically being dragged here not too long ago." he muttered, not realizing that Impa had stopped by him. "Now he and that girl are..." he trailed off as his face started to grow red.

"Is something wrong?" Impa asked, nearly making the man jump out of his suit.

"Oh uh, L-Lady Impa! Good evening!" he stammered coming to attention. "E-everything's fine, I just checked the graveyard and absolutely nothing out of the ordinary is going on right now." She raised an eyebrow at his nervous smile.

"Nothing?" he seemed tempted to say something but shook his head. "Perhaps you should rest. It is the middle of the night after all." The soldier nodded appreciatively but looked at her in curiosity.

"If you don't mind my asking, how come you aren't resting yourself?" he asked once his composure returned.

"I was out training my pupil." she replied.

"You mean that secret student I have yet to see?" he asked good-humoredly. "I'm beginning to think that they don't exist."

"Then you should get more rest. You're not alert as you think you are." she said with a somewhat prideful smile as she continued to her destination.

"W-wait, where are you going?" he asked as a slight bit of worry crept into his voice.

"To check on something." she replied simply.

"At the graveyard? B-but I just checked there."

"There's something I need to be sure of." she said as her gaze narrowed. "Something I have a bad feeling about."

"Yeah bu-"

"Are you sure there's nothing going on?" she interrupted, her gaze now trained on him.

"W-well when I was patrolling I saw that Josh was... uh," he paused trying to find the right words, "getting his wounds tended to."

"Josh?" Impa asked curiously.

"Yeah, Malon and Zefrelda's friend." the guard replied somewhat nervously. "He went with their other friend, Link, to break the curse at Zora's River." Impa paused and tried to remember where she had heard that name before. "But I'd suggest you let him, uh, rest. He needs time to recover. If you'll excuse me." he saluted and walked off before she could ask anything else.

"Link was the boy's name that was chosen by destiny, but Josh was..." a flash of concern went across her face as she increased her pace. "If he's who I think he is, then we may have a serious problem on our hands."

~ sc, vc ~

"Maaan this place is creepy." I muttered as I walked through Kakariko graveyard. The moon was high and clouds drifted along the sky, casting shadows that almost seemed to crawl across the ground and gravestones. The occasional rumble of thunder and breeze blowing the lightly leafed trees gave me a feeling of unease, like something wasn't quite right. My lantern wasn't as effective as a flashlight but it lit a fairly decent area around me whenever the clouds blocked out the moon.

"So many of 'em, I know there weren't this many in the game." I scanned over a few of the graves but couldn't make heads or tails of what they said. I walked deeper into the graveyard, almost as if something was guiding me, and stopped at a raised slope that had three large headstones with a patch of grass shaped like the triforce in front of the middle one. "Okay if I remember right, the ones at the edges are the Royal Composer Brothers and they made the Sun's Song... or was it the Song of Storms?" I muttered to myself. "No wait, that was in Majora's Mask... or was it?"

"Hi Josh!" a bright orange orb screamed happily as it flew right in front of me. I screamed in surprise, dropping both my sword and lantern as I tumbled backwards down the slope causing the orb to fall to the ground laughing.

"Don't... DO that!" I yelled as I clutched my chest and sighed heavily. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" I made my way back up the slope and picked my lantern back up. I grumbled in annoyance as I looked down at Angi, still laughing hard but slowly started to calm down. Deciding to ignore her until then, I kneeled down next to the middle gravestone to get a better look.

'Wasn't this suppose to be destroyed? It had to of been. Navi said that they had already been in there.' I thought to myself. "Hey Tangi, was this gravestone ever broken by anything?" I called looking over my shoulder, hoping that she would hear me over her laughter. Her laughing came to a dead stop as she seemed to be staring in my direction. "What is it?" I asked, worried something was coming. I grabbed my sword and whipped my head around but nothing other than the trees were moving.

"Sorry, my eyes were just playing tricks on me. What was your question?" she asked as she flew over to me.

"Was this headstone ever destroyed?"

"I don't know, this is the first time I've been out here." she replied. "Why, is something wrong with it?"

"No, it just seems... different."

"You mean other than the fact that it's the only one around with the red Sheikah eye near the bottom?"

"I don't know, I'm probably just over thinking." I sighed.

"You can think?" she asked in mock surprise.

"Yeah it's a real miracle." I said sarcastically getting a giggle from her. "Heh, glad to see you're alright Tangi." I grinned.

"Why wouldn't I be?" she asked curiously. "I was with Malon all night up until now."

"Let's just say I had some visitors that decided to drop in on me." I used the headstone to help me stand but my right hand started to contract on its own once I made contact. "Aaaah cramp! Owie owie owie!"

"You're hopeless." she sighed with a giggle making me put on a fake scowl. "But now that you're awake, let's go see Malon and wait for Link before it starts to rain." Just as she finished saying that, I started to feel a few raindrops hit me.

"Too late. Wait, you mean he's not back yet?" I asked as I started to go down the slope shaking my hand so it'd loosen up. "Hope he's alright."

"He can handle himself. He is the Hero of Time after all." she said confidently.

"True." I replied but stopped when I felt a faint tingly sensation. "Oh no."

"What's wrong?" she asked worriedly, "One of those guardian things?"

"Yeah, I think so." I muttered as I drew my sword. The sound of stone cracking behind us caught our attention. We turned around to see that the Sheikah symbol that was engraved in the tombstone of the Royal Family had a large crack going across it. Without warning, a bolt of lightning shot down from the sky and collided with it, causing it to explode. The force knocked me onto my back and Angi was blown a few feet away. "Holy crap!" I exclaimed as I got back to my feet. "You alright Tangi?" I called looking around for her.

"Yeah, other than being knocked into this stupid tree." she called back from a hole that was once the home for birds. I laughed a little at her misfortune and walked back to where the tombstone once stood. The only thing remaining to show that it was there, was the part that had the Sheikah eye with the crack going through it. Other than that, it was a deep dark hole. I held my lantern over it and looked down but saw nothing but darkness. I shrugged and was just about to turn away until something shot out of the hole, grasped my neck and practically slammed me to the ground, causing me to drop both the lantern and my sword. "Josh are you okay?" She climbed out of the tree and watched as I wrestled with an unseen attacker. "What are you doing?" she asked, wondering why I was squirming on the ground.

I would've answered but it felt like someone was holding me down by my throat and choking me. I gripped at whatever was choking me and could actually feel a hand around my neck. I managed to pry it off by pulling at the invisible arm but struggled to keep it from grabbing my neck again. The clouds moved and moonlight filtered over me but seemed to bend slightly above me, outlining the arm that was holding me down. With me able to see it now, I drew the Kokiri sword and stabbed it much like I did with the werewolf back in the ice cavern. The tentacle like arm stretched up, showing that it was coming from the hole. The clouds blocked out the moonlight, making it so the only way I could tell where the arm was, was that the short sword was still stuck in it and seemed to be floating in mid-air. With the offending appendage off of me, I sucked in two breaths of air before grabbing my broadsword and sliced through the invisible arm.

"That was... that was scary." I said between breaths. 'This one practically has optic camo? How am I suppose to fight against that?'

"Are you alright? I'm sorry, I couldn't sense it." Angi said worriedly as she flew down next to me. "It was hiding itself somehow."

"I don't know what that was but it was trying to strangle me." I replied as I got up to retrieve the Kokiri sword that was now on the ground. "If that's the guardian then I'm going to have a tough time with it." A streak of lightning went across the sky, lighting up the area for a brief moment. In that brief moment of light, fear spread across my face as I caught a glimpse of two more of the arms stretching out of the hole. "Run!" I yelled as I turned to do so but one of the arms shot forward and tripped me by grabbing my ankle. I slashed at it but the second hand caught my wrist and started dragging me towards the hole. I tried grabbing at the ground but it was slick from the light rain and was only slightly slowing the process. "Tangi!" was all I could get out before I was pulled down into the darkness.

"Josh!" she screamed, flying over the hole but seeing only black. "Hang on!" with that she raced off towards the village.

~ sc, vc ~

"Welcome back Zefrelda." a red-haired Hylian greeted as said blonde walked into Impa's house. "Been out sparring again I see."

"Malon? You're still awake?" Zefrelda asked as she sat down by her friend.

"Yeah, I thought I'd wait for Link to come back." she replied.

"Oh?" a mischievous smile spread on the blonde's face. "You've been waiting ever since he left?"

"Now don't get the wrong idea." Malon said with a slight hint of red going to her cheeks. "I've been up since I brought Josh back."

"He's back without Link?" she asked curiously. "Wait, what do you mean that you brought him?"

"I kind of uh, knocked him out with a big stick." Malon replied with a sheepish smile.

"Why would you do that?"

"He scared me." the redhead said defensively. "I was washing Epona in the river, minding my own business, when suddenly a noise goes off. Both Epona and I hear it and go to investigate but I'm nervous so I grab a big stick. When we get to a bush, he jumps out," she sprung up from her chair to help prove her point, surprising the blonde, "and screams. Epona rears back and I, well, I hit him with the stick."

"I can see him doing that." Zefrelda laughed. "Where is he now?"

"It was dark when we got here so I snuck him to the old house in the graveyard." the blonde's laughter quickly died down and a look of concern started to show on her face. "Something wrong?"

"Impa went to see if anyone was hurt when lightning struck somewhere in the graveyard." she replied.

"I'm sure he's fine. Here." Malon said reassuringly as she handed her a bottle of milk. "I left a note to let him know what happened and where he is. Plus Angi went to go check on him and said she'd bring him here once he woke up, if he isn't already on his way." The door opening and closing behind them grabbed there attention. "See? Just like I said." They both turned to see a stunned guard standing at the door. "Kevin? Aw we were hoping you'd be someone else." she said teasingly.

"How did you beat me here?" he asked in confusion.

"Beat you here?" the redhead asked in her own confusion. "I've been here since I dropped Josh off."

"So then you weren't... oh." he trailed off as realization started to kick in. "Oooh."

"Oh' what?" Zefrelda asked curiously.

"Umm... nothing. I was seeing things." he replied nervously, his face slowly growing red. "I just thought Malon was uh, exercising with him. Um, if you two will excuse me, I need to get some rest." he quickly made his way to one of the multiple beds and plopped down on it, not bothering to take off his armor.

"Exercising?" Malon asked "In the middle of the night?"

"It's not that strange." Zefrelda said with a shrug. "I'm out with Impa during the night a lot."

"Yeah but not when you're covered in cuts and just waking up from getting knocked out by a scared redhead with a stick." The blonde's eyes widened as if remembering something until a bright orange light flew in the window.

"Malon!" it screamed. "Is Link back yet?"

"What's wrong Angi?" the redhead asked worriedly due to the panic in the fairy's tone.

"Josh is in trouble!" That's all the girls needed to hear before jumping up from their seats and racing towards the door. In their haste, they slung the door open and right into the unfortunate person that was just about to walk inside.

"Link!" a blue light said worriedly as it flew down to the blonde Hylian sprawled on the ground. "Watch where you're going!" it shot to the three that stopped at the door.

"Link! Perfect timing!" Angi cheered as she too flew down to the damp red clad Hylian. "Josh needs your help and-" she just realized that he had yet to move, "I know your tired but this is no time to start sleeping!"

"Angi show me where Josh is." Zefrelda said after looking in the direction of the graveyard. "Malon, there's potions in one of the cabinets. Use that to wake Link up and tell him to come to the graveyard."

"But Zefrelda, it's one of the guardians." the orange fairy said hesitantly. The determined look in the blonde girl's eyes made the fairy nod and race off towards the graveyard with her in tow. Malon watched them disappear around the corner and set off to do her task. Once she retrieved a green potion, she kneeled down next to Link and poured a little into his mouth but it simply ran out of the side.

"Come on Link, drink it. It'll give you energy." she tried again but got the same result. "This isn't going to work." she sighed and looked in the direction her friends went then back down to Link.

~ sc, vc ~

I struggled against the invisible arms that were dragging me through what seemed like an underground maze. Seeing that I wasn't going to break free of their firm grip anytime soon, I switched the Kokiri sword over to my right hand and cut where I thought my left restraint was. Apparently realizing it was about to be cut too, the arm that had a hold of my foot picked up the pace and started dragging me along the stone floor faster. Every time I got a chance to sit up and take a slash at it, it would jerk me forward over a bump or rock to force me back down.

"Alright that's it." I growled, getting tired of the pain that was growing in my backside due to the rough ride. I sat up and slashed the appendage just as it was pulling me around the corner. With my means of guided motion gone, the momentum kept me rolling a little towards the far wall and partially in a pit of some kind of slime. "Gross." I muttered as I pulled my hand out of it and slung most of it off. "Okay, how am I going to get out of here?" A sizzling sound caught my attention and I looked around but could only see a few inches in front of me at best. The sizzling continued along with a slight burning on my right arm making me realize that the goo was like some sort of acid. I quickly threw off my gauntlet and brushed the rest off before any real damage could be done. "Oh smart me." I grumbled sarcastically as I felt around for my leather armor in the darkness. Suddenly my hand started cramping up again and the symbol on the back started to glow a faint dark purple.

"Well that's... weird." I winced due to the pain but took advantage of the small bit of light to look around with. Though I had no idea where I was in terms of direction, I continued down a random corridor using my hand as a dim light source after I picked up my discarded gauntlet. When I walked into a large room, a door from the ceiling slammed down behind me. "That can't be good." I muttered as I gripped the Kokiri sword tightly in my left hand. I cautiously took a step forward but nothing happened. I took another, then another but still nothing. Fairly confident that nothing was going to happen, I continued forward until gravity started pulling on me as if I stepped off of a cliff.

"Waah!" I twisted and caught myself on the ledge I apparently just stepped off of and looked around. "What the?" I pulled myself up and used my hand to illuminate where I had just fell, only to see the same stone floor that I've been walking on for the past who knows how long. Curious, I reached forward to touch it but felt nothing but air. "An illusion?" I asked as I stood up and looked around with added caution but to no avail due to the lack of an efficient light source. "Well that's just freakin' dandy." I growled as I carefully and slowly made my way to the other side of the room, feeling for and avoiding the invisible holes in the floor.

"Phew, finally." I sighed once I made it to the other side.

"So I was right to check after all." a mature feminine voice said from behind me, nearly making me jump out of my skin and fall through one of the invisible holes. After righting myself and catching my balance, I clutched my chest to try and calm my heart.

"Not funny!" I yelled through my breathing. "I'm too young to have a heart attack lady." I grumbled as I turned around to see a glaring woman with white hair holding a torch. "Who are you?" I squinted to get a better look and could make out a body suit with the sleeves and leggings cut short along with the Sheikah symbol imprinted on her chest. "Wait a minute," I continued as I noticed white markings under her eyes, "aren't you-" I snapped my head back just in time to narrowly dodge the ninjato-like weapon she drew in a flash. I retaliated out of impulse and lunged forward, slamming my fist into her side making her double over and drop her torch. "Oh crap, sorry. Didn't mean to hit you that hard."

Taking it as a taunt, she lunged forward and let off another quick swipe. Again, I snapped my head back but this time her blade nicked me across my neck. I fell back and landed flat on my butt, feeling were I was hit and seeing a tad bit of blood on my hand. A shiver ran through me, knowing that if I had been any slower in reacting, I'd probably be sharing this tomb with whatever else was in here.

"Wait wait!" I cried fearfully while scooting back, almost falling as my right arm sunk into the ground. Righting myself, I quickly stood and sheathed my sword, showing that I meant no harm. "This is just a misunderstanding, I only look like the bad guy!"

"A misunderstanding?" she asked disbelievingly as she advanced toward me, albeit a bit slower as she held her side.

"Yeah, I know this'll sound farfetched but the bad guy is like my evil twin." I said, wincing at how stupid it sounded. She stopped and kicked the torch forward slightly to get a better view of me, though her gaze showed no lack of hostility. "Here, let me show you-" I reached into my shirt to pull out my necklace but didn't feel it. My eyes widened in panic as I started patting myself down for it until I remembered the tug on my neck back in the shack. "Oh no." I breathed looking behind me in the direction I came from. "That Gerudo must've cut it off when I tripped."

"No proof?" the Sheikah asked almost tauntingly. "Then let the souls of the dead be your judge." She did a strong front kick, colliding roughly with the center of my chest and knocking me over the edge. When I hit the dirt level below, not only was the air knocked out of me, but my right hand started to cramp up the same time torches along the walls seemed to be ignited with dark purple flames.

"Aargh, just had to be spartan kicked into a dark pit by an old lady." I coughed as I got to my feet. I scanned the area I was in now and fear started to creep in. Green pools of the goo from earlier, mostly buried sets of bones, and even stone coffins with the Sheikah symbol engraved in the lids where visible from the ominous purple glow. "This is just freakin' wrong." I chuckled shakily, hoping to calm myself a bit. After a few breaths, I moved forward until a pulse of pain shot through my head. Soon after, a faint rumbling was heard as vibrations started to gradually increase from the ground. I gripped the Kokiri sword and carefully scanned the area, particularly the coffins.

The sound of stone grinding against stone behind me caught my attention. I looked back and saw the lid of one of the coffins was slowly sliding off and fell to the ground with a loud echoing thud. "This isn't looking good." I muttered uneasily as I backed up and gripped the hilt of the Kokiri sword. I stopped when I felt a sudden pressure on my ankle and looked down. My eyes widened in fear when I saw a shriveled, bandaged hand sticking out of the ground and had a hold of me.

~ sc ~

"This way!" an orange fairy called as she and Zefrelda navigated through Kakariko graveyard. The light sprinkle had grown to a moderate rainfall with cracks of thunder roaring occasionally, making the blonde flinch slightly whenever they went off. The two stopped at what was once the marker for the Royal Family Tomb and shared a worried glance before jumping in.

"Is he okay?" the blonde asked worriedly as she walked the corridors, glancing towards the ground fairly frequently.

"I'm not sure, I hope he is." the fairy replied as she lit the way with her glow. "These weird invisible arms shot out of the hole and dragged him down here." The two increased their pace and bumped into a white haired woman as they turned a corner.

"What are you doing here?" the woman asked in surprise as she clutched her side. "I said to go and get some sleep."

"I came to look for my friend. The one I've been telling you about, have you seen him?" Zefrelda asked hopefully. Impa sighed and looked at the blonde sympathetically.

"That was not your friend." Impa replied softly. "That was Leoni."

"So my eyes weren't playing tricks on me?" Angi asked but then shook her head. "No they had to have been."

"What do you mean?" the blonde asked.

"When we were looking at the gravestone, his eyes looked like those of the Gerudo." Angi replied. "But now that I think about it, the lantern was shining on him. The way the light was on him must be why I thought that."

"Your eyes were not deceiving you." the woman said. "I saw the very same thing." A faint scream echoed off the walls from deeper in the corridors making the blonde and fairy jump.

"That was him!" wasting no time, both Zefrelda and Angi ran in the direction it came from.

"Stop." Impa commanded as she grabbed Zefrelda's wrist. "It's far too dangerous for you to go with him around."

"I can handle it." she said as she pulled out of the older woman's grasp. "I need to see for myself." With that she and the fairy continued towards the source of the scream.

"Stubborn girl." Impa growled as she followed behind them but slower due to her injury.

~ sc ~

"Of all places... for the damn thing to bite me." I panted through clenched teeth as I leaned against a wall and looked down the dark hall I just came from. "Why did it have to be my left shoulder?" I gripped it tightly as pain was throbbing through it as well as an odd dizzying feeling spread through me. I shook my head in an attempt to brush it off and fished around in my pocket for my hat. With a little bit of difficulty, I managed to wrap it around the bite mark as a temporary bandage. "Well... on the bright side, at least my headache's gone."

When I had broken free of the hand's grasp, I ran passed a few of the mummy-like creatures until one unleashed an ear piercing screech that made me freeze in fear. The closest one, which had the Sheikah symbol on its wrapped face, slowly came towards me. When it was within arms reach, it stopped and almost seemed to be staring right through me for a few moments with its glowing red eyes. It then lunged forward and sunk its teeth into my shoulder. I tried to break free but it held fast until it suddenly went limp against me and the red glow diminished. I pushed it off of me and ran passed the others which seemed to be ignoring me now.

"Kinda odd how they just let me go once that one bit me though." I muttered as I continued down the path which strangely seemed brighter. Granted it was still ridiculously dark but I could make out the walls and distance of them."Guess I should consider myself lucky. Come to think of it, Gibdo weren't supposed to be in the tomb, they were only in the Shadow Temple and Kakariko's Well I think." The further I went, the less purple things seemed to get until I noticed that the glow from my hand was fading. I watched it in confusion as it dimmed to nothing. Seeing as it wasn't really helping anymore, I reequipped my gauntlet and kept walking until a reddish-orange glow caught my attention. "Tangi?" I asked with growing excitement as it seemed to move. "Tangi!" I laughed in relief as I ran up to the light. "Am I glad to see... you." My relief slumped to disappointment once I saw that the light was simply a lit torch. Though bewildered as to why it was the only light within who knows how far, I took it off the wall to better light my way.

"_Follow the spirits." _a feminine voice seemed to echo from beside me. I stopped and quickly looked around but saw nothing but a floating blue orb further down. Figuring it to be a fairy, I walked over to it only to see that it was just an orb. _"Concentrate."_ Again I looked around but saw nothing else. I focused my attention on the glow until a sort of flash blurred the edges of my vision. In the center clear part, a transparent man appeared not three feet in front of me

"OH FREAK!" I yelled, falling to the ground and scooting away. In the same flash, my vision returned to normal, showing only the floating orb in the ghostly man's place. "This is way too much for a guy that woke up not thirty minutes ago!" I breathed as I held my chest. "Geez!"

"_Again."_ the voice laughed heartily. I stared at the orb as the flash happened again, making the man appear. He stared at me a moment before turning and pointing down a corridor. I hesitantly walked closer to the ghost and saw that he was pointing to another ghost further down, which was pointing in a different direction.

'Are all of these graves connected?' I thought as I followed their directions. 'Gotta be, the tomb wasn't nearly this big. But this is kinda cool, it's like that part in-" My vision flashed back to normal but a wave of weariness caused me to stumble and fall against the wall. "The heck just happened?" I panted and gripped the bite mark which felt like it was burning but soon subsided.

"_You were using magic, however you lack the ability to use it."_

"Meaning... what?" I asked expectantly as I pushed myself off of the wall and shook most of the weariness away. "That I can't control it?" Not getting an answer, I sighed and continued until I heard a squeak from above me. A shriek soon followed and after that a voice yelled "Watch out!" I looked up to see what was going on only for something wet, soft, and heavy to collide with my face and pin me to the ground.

"Are you alright?" the voice asked as an orange light started to brighten the area.

"Tangi?" I called, but was a bit muffled due to the weighted cloth pressing my face to the side.

"Josh?" the fairy asked excitedly as whatever was on top of me shifted a little. She flew down to my face level and made it to where I could see that whatever was on me was white. Upon seeing it, a wave of mild annoyance flashed through me.

"As happy as I am to see you," I said to the figure still sitting on me, "would you kindly get your big soggy butt out of my face?" Angi giggled and the body on top of me tensed before getting up. "Seriously, this is the fourth dang time. Is my face like a homing beacon for your-" I stopped when I realized I wasn't talking to a certain Hero of time. It turned out to be a beautiful young woman that was garbed in a vaguely familiar outfit. "Uhh... about what I said." I added nervously as she stared at me with stoic red eyes. "I-I didn't mean..." She narrowed her gaze and looked straight into my eyes. "It's not big, it's uh..." I leaned back as she bent down and started getting closer to my face. "It's nice!" I blurted as I brought my hands up defensively. The blonde blinked a few times and straightened up.

"What?" she asked with red starting to show on her cheeks as the fairy busted out laughing.

"-ly toned." I added quickly, feeling heat rush to my face in embarrassment. "It's nicely tone, you must work out." The stoic look changed to a happy smile.

"I'm glad to see that you're yourself." she said with a smile as she offered her hand to help me up.

"Uh, sure." I replied simply but hesitated slightly before grabbing her hand. "But what the heck are you doing down here?"

"Why else?" Angi asked as if it were obvious. "We came to help you out of here."

"And I'm thankful for that but why bring Zefrelda along?"

"Because I wanted to come." the blonde replied. "Got a problem with that?" she added playfully.

"Yeah." I said, making a small flash of hurt go across her face as I held the torch closer to her. "You've got scrapes all over you." I added as I pointed out the various scratches and scuff marks along her body. " Like right there, there, there, and there."

"Oooh I see." Angi said slyly, getting me to look at her in confusion. "You're being protective of her."

"Well... I don't like it when someone gets hurt trying to do something for me." I replied carefully as I turned away and busied myself in trying to find a way to climb up.

"Oh, you don't need to worry about me." Zefrelda giggled confidently. "I can handle myself."

"And I don't doubt that." I chuckled as I flashed her a grin. "It's just in a guy's nature to be protective over what he cares for." The surprised look on the blonde's face made me pause and go over what I said. I cleared my throat once I saw her warm smile and looked back up, spotting the ledge that she fell from. "Aaanyway, let's hurry and get out of here." I tossed my torch up on the ledge and braced myself against the wall so Zefrelda could climb up on my shoulders. "Up ya go."

"Why not just lift her like you do Link?" Angi asked curiously as I squatted down so she could climb up easier.

"One word." I replied as I prepared for my shoulder to start hurting. "Skirt."

"Such a gentleman." Zefrelda giggled with a curtsy.

"I try." I laughed. "But while we're on the subject, why the new outfit?"

"It's easier to move in." she replied with a twirl.

"It suits you too." I added, getting another smile from her as she climbed up on me. 'But I swear I've seen something like that bef-' "Aargh!" I let out once she was standing on my shoulders as pain shot through my left.

"I'm sorry, are you alright?" Zefrelda asked in concern.

"Not really." I forced out as I hoisted her up so she could grab the ledge. "Hurry." She quickly pulled herself up and laid down, holding her hand out to help me up. As soon as the pressure was off of it, I backed up and clutched my shoulder in order to relieve some of the pain. "Didn't think it'd hurt that much." I hissed to myself as I tried to breath calmly.

"Why didn't you tell me you were hurt?" Zefrelda asked scoldingly once she helped me up.

"I was going to." I replied with a forced grin making her frown.

"When?" she asked expectantly, crossing her arms as she did so. I simply got up and gave her the 'I dunno' shrug but winced in the process. "Let me see it."

"It's fine." I replied as I picked the torch up and started walking down the corridor. Angi suddenly flew in front of my face making me stumble back before Zefrelda kicked my legs out from under me. I winced as I landed roughly on the stone floor and was about to get up until Zefrelda sat on me and pinned me down. "What the heck was that for?" she didn't answer as she pulled up my sleeve and started unraveling my makeshift bandage. "I knew women were stubborn but sheesh." I chuckled.

"I could say the same for men." she retorted making me laugh. "What happened to you?"

"I got bit." I replied as she gingerly traced the mark with her finger. "How bad is it? I can't tell from this angle."

"It's... probably going to leave a scar." she said as if she was seeing something she found hard to believe.

"Great, another decoration." I grumbled sarcastically but soon felt a warm soothing sensation in my shoulder. "Quit." I said simply once I saw that the hand she had on my shoulder was glowing a faint pink. She ignored me and continued concentrating on healing me. "You keep this up and I'm going to end up carrying you out of here." Just then my right hand started to get tingly. Before I could say anything, an emotionless feminine voice rang out.

"Allow me to do that for you." Zefrelda let out a small gasp and looked at her ankle. She grasped at it but was apparently pulled off of me by whatever had her. She went to grab at it again but was dragged further down the corridor, a look of near terror spreading across her face as she left the light's reach.

"Zefrelda!" I called as I quickly sprang to my feet and chased after her. Running through a few corridors and passing a few floating orbs which seemed to be going the same way, I came to a very large room with a very large stone door and unlit torches spread all around. "The entrance to the Shadow Temple?" I muttered to myself as I looked around for the blonde. "It's connected with the tomb?"

"Josh?" Zefrelda asked hopefully, though it sounded from above us. "Wait, don't look up!" The last part came out a little too late as I looked up to see that she was hanging upside down and had just pulled her skirt to her knees.

"Are you alright?" I called up to her after clearing my throat and quickly averting my gaze.

"Well, yes but it feels like something has a hold of my ankle." Remembering that my hand had been tingling earlier, I gripped my sword and looked around warily. Suddenly it felt like an open hand slammed into my chest and knocked me back. I tripped but rolled back to my feet using the momentum and drew my sword, but winced when doing so.

"You would draw your sword against something you can't see?" the same voice from before asked as a cloaked figure walked to where it was just out of the range of Angi's glow.

"Of course I would." I coughed as I rubbed where it hit me. I froze for a second at seeing the cloak, figuring it to be the man I faced at Lake Hylia but saw protrusions in its hood, which I assumed were two small horns on its head. I glanced around to see if anything else was around before I rushed forward ready to slash it.

"I suppose it's natural for someone to throw their life away when they've lost everything they've known." Once I was a few feet away, I felt something grab my left wrist and stop my attack. I looked down and saw that a hand, outlined by Angi's glow, had a hold of me. I switched the sword to my right and slashed at it but the hand let go and moved out of the light.

"What are you getting at?" I caught a glimpse of a fist, that was also outlined once it entered the light's range, fly towards me and narrowly dodged it. I jumped back a few paces and looked the cloaked creature over. 'This isn't going to work.' I mentally growled. I glanced up at Zefrelda still hanging upside down and then down to the cloaked figure that hadn't budged an inch. 'Tangi's light doesn't have a big enough range for me to see that thing's arms when fighting it.'

"I pity you somewhat." the creature replied stoically.

"Tch, doesn't sound like it." I focused my attention to the creature and my vision flashed to the same tunnel-like state when I could see the ghosts. The room seemed brighter in the clear portion of my vision and I could see four ghostly snake-like arms stretching out its back. "What makes you pity me anyway?"

"You are dead to everyone, yet you haven't realized it yet." I tensed and carefully watched the tentacle-like arms, expecting one to lunge out at me but they all stayed where they were. "The life you've known has expired and left you behind. Or should I say continued on without you?" My eyes widened in horror and froze when I realized what it meant.

"You're wrong!" Angi yelled confidently. "He's alive and strong. He's beaten three of you and will continue to do so. Right?" I didn't respond to her, just stared at the creature. "Josh?"

"So you finally understand." It smirked but soon let out a pain hissed and Zefrelda started falling from the ceiling. She yelped in surprise at the sudden pull of gravity but flipped in the air and landed unsteadily on her feet with a pained wince. Snapping out of it, I quickly ran over to her to see if she was alright.

"I'm fine." she replied but was rubbing a hand print on her ankle. I whipped around expecting the creature to attack but it was busy glaring at the white-haired woman that had just sliced the arm that was holding the blonde above our heads. She stopped for a moment when she met my gaze, a look of mild shock on her face.

"If you are the friend she says you are, then get her out of here!" she called to me as I saw her flip away from one of the arms.

"Impa?" Zefrelda asked in surprise as she looked passed me. "Hey wait!" she let out as I turned around and scooped her up.

"Promise me you will protect her."

"I'll do what I can." I replied steadily, making the older woman pause for a moment. One of the arms came my way and I managed to slash it in time but due to me holding Zefrelda, it was quite a clumsy maneuver. The creature hissed in pain again as it retracted its injured appendage and jumped away from Impa's strike.

"Go!" she commanded as she kicked the creature's body, making it growl in frustration. I nodded and ran towards the tunnel while sheathing my sword. "Now to deal with you." she said as she turned to the cloaked figure that was beginning to be surrounded by blue orbs.

~ sc ~

"Can you walk?" I asked tiredly as we made it out of the tunnel and to where the marble platform was. The trek wasn't far but along the way my vision returned to normal and the weariness was kicking in.

"My ankle hurts but I think so." I eased her to her feet but the pained expression on her face told me enough to sit her down on the grass. With her fairly comfortable, I walked over to the wooden fence that separated us from the gravestones and leaned on it.

"So there really is no going back huh?" I muttered to myself as I looked over the graveyard.

"Josh... are you alright?" Angi asked cautiously as she flew over to me.

"Tired." I replied simply with a sigh.

"That's not it." Zefrelda added as she got up and slightly limped beside me.

"You shouldn't be walking if you're hurt." I said after I glanced at her before returning my gaze to the sky.

"And you shouldn't be moving around if you're tired." she shot back making a small smirk go on my face. "What's wrong?"

"Is it about what that thing said?" Angi asked innocently. I tensed at remembering its words. "About how your life continued without you. What did it mean?"

"It means I can't go home." I replied sadly.

"Couldn't you just travel back?" Zefrelda asked, albeit a bit hesitantly.

"No," I said shaking my head "I can't go back by simply traveling, but even if I could, I wouldn't be able to live there."

"Why not?" Angi asked.

"Because it's been seven years." I sighed. "My younger brother is now the same age as me and I haven't changed a bit. Besides, the dreams I've been having lately show that I practically disappeared without a trace. Everyone probably thinks I was eaten or something." I let a small chuckle slip out towards the end.

"I can kind of understand how you feel." Zefrelda said as she leaned against me comfortingly. "I never knew my mother and my life was turned upside down when Ganondorf took over. I lost my father and closest friend because of that."

"I know what you're getting at, and I really appreciate it," I flashed her a quick smile, "but telling a sad story isn't the best way to perk someone up." Angi seemed to get an idea and flew over to Zefrelda's ear and started whispering to her. I chuckled a little at the blonde's slightly reddened face and quiet conversation before looking to the sky again. The rain had stopped falling during my time in the tomb but the dark clouds still floated overhead. A few moment's later I felt something warm, soft, and slightly wet press against my cheek. I looked over and saw that Zefrelda was blushing and looking away. Getting the idea of what she did, a little heat started traveling to my face. "Um... not that I'm complaining or anything, but... what was that for?"

"W-well, back when you had just got done with Death Mountain, you said that this reminded you of a chocolate kiss and would perk anyone up." she said while holding up a dark flask and avoided eye contact. "So I... gave you one."

"Chocolate..." I trailed off as I felt the wet spot on my cheek. I pulled my fingers back and saw a dark syrupy liquid on them. Curious, I gave them an experimental lick and tasted the same chocolatey flavor from before and started to chuckle. My chuckle soon changed to laughter and quickly escalated to where I leaning against the fence for support. She turned away with a huff and hobbled away a few steps. After I calmed myself down a good bit, I walked over to her and wrapped my arms around her waist. She tensed up when I hugged her to me but soon relaxed. "Thanks Zefrelda." I said softly, though it was fairly obvious I was still laughing inwardly. "I needed that."

"I told you it'd work." the orange orb giggled.

"I meant the candy when I said that it'd perk anyone up." I laughed.

"Candy?" Zefrelda asked, looking back at me.

"Yeah, little bite size pieces that taste like that syrup. But I gotta say," I said as a large grin spread over my face, "that's the best chocolate kiss I've ever had." Zefrelda tensed and her blush deepened a little more making me laugh. "Aah well, even if I can't go back home I think I'll be alright." The blonde looked back at me with a questioning gaze. "I mean sure I'm sad that I can't go back, but I was getting to the age where I needed to start thinking on how I was going to live on my own. I just... got pulled out of the nest a little early."

"What are you going to do?" Angi asked as she landed on my shoulder.

"I think that's pretty obvious." I replied with a smile. "I'm going to help save my new home." I chuckled a little when I felt both of them relax. "But before that, I'm going to take myself a little nap, and from the looks of it," I scooped Zefrelda up, to her surprise, "you two could use one too." I put the blonde down on a soft patch of grass by the wall that was furthest from the tunnel entrance and sat down next to her. It wasn't long before her eyes closed and she slumped against me. "Yeah," I whispered to myself as I glanced at the two that were occupying my shoulders, "staying here won't be so bad." I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the wall behind me, missing the small smile that made its way on their faces.

* * *

True not much ground was covered quest-wise but this sort of situation had to come up eventually right? Hope ya liked it and uh... feel free to review!


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